DD: I claim the first ever Yolei x Kouji fanfiction! I call it Kouyako! Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and beware of character death and slight OOCness.

Yolei Inoue yawned as she groggily opened her eyes. The sun was streaming through her thin curtains in weak rays of light, shining directly into her hazel eyes. She squinted her eyes and moved out of the way of the sunlight.

Hearing quiet giggling, she shot up in her bed, her stringy, lavender-coloured hair hanging around her shoulders. At her desk, her friend and younger sister were laughing at something on her laptop.

"What're you doin'?" She slurred.

"Stuff…" Kari giggled. Yolei frowned slightly and stood up. When Kari giggled, her version of doing 'stuff' usually ended in a fire or the house being flooded.

"Nee-chan?" Yolei glanced sideways at her unbiological sister. Mimi simply gave her an innocent look.

"We're just looking up a couple of websites…"

At this, Yolei's frown deepened. She leaned closer to the computer screen so that she could see the website.

eHarmony? That sounded strangely familiar…

Yolei frowned at the page. Her name, a brief description of her, her likes and dislikes…

"You set me up on a dating site?!"

"Yeah…" Kari slowly nodded. "What's so bad about that?"

"I have to be over eighteen!" Yolei hissed.

"You'll be eighteen in a couple of months; it's close enough," Mimi pointed out. "Besides, you agreed to it last night!"

"I did?" Yolei frowned, not remembering much about the previous night. She remembered breaking into the alcohol cabinet once her parents left – which explained her headache… And she remembered Mimi pulling out the karaoke kit and all of them drunkenly singing Taylor Swift and One Direction…

She also remembered a game of 'Never Have I Ever'.

But she most certainly did not remember giving Kari or Mimi permission to set her up on a dating website.

"You don't remember?" Mimi chuckled at her 'sister's' confused look. "I'm not surprised. You were completely drunk. Now grab a doughnut and help us out with this!"

"We don't have any doughnuts…" Yolei frowned in confusion.

"We do now," Mimi replied. "We watched a bunch of American cop movies yesterday and Ms. Police Officer here-" She nudged Kari "-decided that she wanted to eat doughnuts like they did."

"I swear, calling the bakery and getting free doughnuts is the first good thing I've ever done for myself while I was drunk," Kari muttered as she uploaded a profile picture of Yolei. "There! All done!"

Yolei leaned towards the screen. "Kari!"

"What?" Kari shrugged innocently. "It's the best picture you have of yourself."

"It's not that!" Yolei hissed. "You said I'm nineteen and that my name's Chiharu Masamoto!"

"Well the name suits you." Mimi replied. "And that was my idea."

Yolei groaned, resisting the urge to whack her sister upside the head.

Silence filled the room for a minute. Then Kari gasped. "Look, you've got a message!"

"What?!" Yolei pulled a chair over to the desk and sat down. "Who's it from?"

"You set me up on eHarmony?!" Kouji Minamoto glared at his friend and older brother before whacking them both upside the head.

"Ow!" Takuya whined. "That hurt!"

"It was supposed to." Kouji grunted. "And why is my name Takeda Sasuke?"

"You're still seventeen, so we had to improvise." Kouichi shrugged.

"By changing my name?"

Takuya scowled. "It seemed like a good idea."

"When you were drunk?"

"Shut up!"

Kouji rolled his eyes as he leaned closer to the screen. "You already messaged someone?"

"Yup." Kouichi confirmed proudly. "Her name's Chiharu Masamoto."

Kouji glanced at the profile picture, seeing three girls. One was foreign, by the look of her strawberry-blonde hair, pale skin and bright green eyes. The one beside her had short, mousey brown hair, unusual cherry coloured eyes and flawless skin.

"Hopefully she's one of those two," Takuya said, pointing to the first two that Kouji had noticed.

Kouji sighed and glanced at the third and final girl. She had long, lavender hair that was pulled into a loose braid. She had tanned skin and wide, hazel eyes that were covered by round glasses. Her teeth were slightly crooked and her lips were red and cherubic.

Inwardly – not that he would ever admit it – he hoped that she was Chiharu Masamoto rather than either of the first two.

"Hey, look!" Kouichi suddenly called, pulling Kouji from his thoughts. "She replied to the message."

Takuya clicked on the message and was about to read it when Kouji closed the laptop. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself." Kouji scowled at him. "I am not using eHarmony with a profile that you guys created for me to talk to some random girl."

"One; that's the point of eHarmony. To talk to random girls." Takuya pointed out.

"Two; are you saying that if you created the profile, you'd use it? Because you said you wouldn't use the one we made for you." Kouichi smirked slightly.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "No."

"But-"

"No."

Before Kouichi or Takuya could say any more, Kouji's step-mother came into the room. "Takuya-kun, Kouichi-kun, your mothers are outside."

The two nodded and stood up. "See you at school, Kouji."

Kouji silently nodded although he did smile slightly at Kouichi. Kouichi turned to face his brother's step-mother and bowed. "Thank you for having me over, Minamoto-san."

"It was no trouble, Kouichi-kun," Satomi assured him. "Come again whenever you like." She beamed as her son's friend and brother ran outside to greet their mothers. "He's a lovely boy."

Kouji hid a smirk of amusement. To adults, Kouichi was always a nice harmless boy. Well, he was nice anyway. But he was far from harmless. Satomi began to leave the room. "Dinner's in half an hour."

"Thanks, 'Kaa-san," Kouji murmured as his door closed with a quiet click. He then glanced back at the laptop and opened it to see the unopened message from Chiharu Masamoto blinking at him. He rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk. May as well be polite and reply.

He glanced up at the message that Takuya and Kouichi had sent Chiharu Masamoto, and her reply to it.

Sasuke: Hey

Chiharu: Hi :)

Kouji sighed and began to type a reply.

Sasuke: Sorry; my friend sent that. I'm not really interested in dating someone I've never met.

A moment or so later, Chiharu Masamoto replied and Kouji found himself reading the message.

Chiharu: Neither am I but my friends are hovering over my shoulder to make sure that I send something.

Kouji chuckled slightly.

Sasuke: Is that so?

Chiharu: Unfortunately -_-'

Chiharu: R u gay rndm guy?

Sasuke: 0-0 Uh… what?

Chiharu: Sorry, my sister grabbed the computer.

Sasuke: It's fine.

Chiharu: U nvr answrd me. R u gay?

Kouji rolled his eyes.

Sasuke: No…

Chiharu: Sorry, I should probably go.

Sasuke: It's fine; I need to go too.

Chiharu: Okay, bye! :)

Kouji felt his heart drop slightly as Chiharu Masamoto's status went from online to offline. And he didn't know why.

Yolei took a deep breath as she bid Sasuke Takeda farewell before closing down her computer.

"Imoto-chan!" Mimi whined. "That was going so well!"

"It was," Yolei agreed, "before you asked him if he was gay."

"It was a fair enough question." Mimi shrugged.

"Now message him again!" Kari pleaded, trying to pry Yolei's laptop away from her.

"If you guys aren't here then I'll do it later!" Yolei yelled without thinking.

Kari and Mimi shared a teasing look. "Ooooh, Yolei wants to type to him in private!" Kari mocked. "What are you going to say that you don't want us to see?"

"Nothing!" Yolei insisted, her face red.

Kari and Mimi shared another look. "Whatever you say, imoto-chan." Mimi giggled.

Kouji turned on his computer to find an unopened message from Chiharu Masamoto. So she wants to talk some more, huh?

Kouji paused, his hand on the mouse. He allowed it to hover momentarily over the message before he opened it.

Chiharu: Hi, Takeda-san.

Kouji had to stop himself from wincing slightly at the use of the pseudonym that Takuya and Kouichi had given him. Then he sighed. No use in telling her my real name… it's not like we'll ever meet anyway.

Sasuke: You can just call me Sasuke.

Chiharu: Okay then :) Thanks. You can call me Yolei.

Sasuke: Wait, what? I thought your name was Chiharu.

Yolei mentally cursed as she tried to come up with an excuse. Calm down, Yolei; you can fix this… just say it was a typo…

Despite the excuse in her mind, Yolei found herself typing almost the exact opposite.

Chiharu: Yeah, about that. You know how I said that my friends set up this account for me?

Sasuke: Yeah…

Chiharu: Well they made up a name for me and I don't know how to change it. My real name is Yolei Inoue.

"Yolei Inoue…" Kouji tested the name. It rolled off his tongue with surprising elegance. "Violet flower…"

He chewed his lower lip. This would probably be a good time to tell her my real name… However a slight twinge of fear kept him from doing so. In public, Kouji and his twin brother Kouichi were forced to keep up a façade in order to protect their family name and their father's international computer software company.

No mistakes were allowed; perfection always had to be achieved. But when he was talking to Yolei… things were different. He felt like he could show her his own personality. So instead of telling her his real name, he continued the conversation.

Sasuke: If you want to change your name, you just need to go into settings and click on the button that says 'Change Name'.

Chiharu: *facepalm* Why didn't I think of that? Back in a minute.

Kouji leaned back in his chair and watched the screen.

Notice: Chiharu Masamoto has changed her name to Yolei Inoue.

Yolei: Thanks, Sasuke!

Sasuke: No problem.

Yolei took a deep breath as she stood outside a small, Italian restaurant. She and Sasuke Takeda had continued talking online for several weeks and eventually, he had asked if she would like to meet up with him.

Naturally, Kari and Mimi had forced her to say yes… but she would have anyway.

She glanced around, smiling slightly as a boy with a ponytail of raven hair, pale skin and piercing cobalt eyes neared her.

"Yolei Inoue?" He asked.

"Yes." She nodded with a nervous smile. "Sasuke Takeda?"

He hesitated slightly before nodding. They stood outside in awkward silence for a moment before he coughed slightly. "So, do you want to go inside?"

"I'd like that." Yolei's smile grew less nervous as they entered the restaurant.

Yolei sighed slightly as she placed her glass of water on the table. She looked down at the linen tablecloth before looking back up at her date. "Your name isn't really Sasuke, is it?"

He hesitated. "Why would you think that?"

"Whenever I call you Sasuke, you either don't react or you wince. I can tell that you're not nineteen too." Yolei murmured before meeting his eyes. "So who are you really?"

He hesitated again and avoided eye contact. "…Kouji Minamoto…"

Yolei let out a dry, humourless chuckle. "I should have known…"

Kouji looked up at her, a confused look on his face.

"There's always something." Yolei whispered, looking down at the tablecloth again. "He's moving away, he already has a girlfriend, he lies to me and doesn't tell me his real name or anything truthful about him." By the last few words, her voice had risen and she was glaring at the table through tears.

"Yolei-" Kouji began only for her to cut him off.

"No!" She snarled, turning her glare to him. "You know, I thought you were different, Minamoto. I thought that you were one of the few people I knew who actually didn't make up their entire life!" Kouji had to hide a flinch at the venom in her voice.

She then stood up and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving a dozen people staring after her. A waiter hesitantly walked over to Kouji, holding the bill. "Uh… sir?"

"Keep the change," he muttered, shoving five hundred yen into the waiter's hand even though the bill was only three fifty.

He then followed Yolei's route out of the restaurant but moved in the exact opposite direction.

"Yolei?" Kari's voice was tired as she answered Yolei's call.

"Kari…" Yolei whispered. "I… Can you give me a lift home? My mom has the car tonight..."

"Sure; are you at the restaurant?" Suddenly she sounded wide awake.

"No; I'm at the park."

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

Yolei nodded and waited for Kari to call again to inform her that she was outside the park. She never did get that call.

Kouji sighed as he slowly pushed open the door to his house.

"You're home early." Satomi smiled at him. "How was your date?"

"Good," he muttered, not wanting to be questioned at that time.

He then walked up to his room and lay down on his bed, closing his eyes. Gods, I'm such an idiot… I should have just told her my name when she told me hers…

He then frowned as his computer beeped. He had forgotten to turn it off when he had left to meet Yolei.

He slowly stood up and walked to the computer to see Yolei requesting a video conference. He chewed his lower lip before accepting. At least I can apologise…

However, the person that came up on screen was not Yolei.

"You must be Sasuke Takeda- wait, sorry; Kouji Minamoto." There was a growl in the girl's voice and Kouji sighed slightly.

"You must be Mimi."

"Uh huh." Mimi nodded. "And you have got a lot to answer for, buddy, but that's not important right now. Yolei needs you."

"I think she made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with me," Kouji snorted and was about to turn off the computer when Mimi said something that made him freeze.

"Our best friend Kari was in a car crash about an hour ago. She didn't make it."

It was only then that Kouji noticed that Mimi's eyes and nose were red and that the bin behind her was filled with tissues. "I'm sorry about that, but I don't know what I can do to help," he mumbled and was about to turn off his computer again when Mimi stopped him again.

"She's in the park near the restaurant that you guys were at and she either can't or won't come home. As much as I don't want to say it, she needs you, Minamoto."

Kouji paused. I need to help her… If I don't, something bad could happen to her as well…

He nodded. "I'll find her."

Kouji ran into the park, his breathing laboured. He had run all the way there.

Unfortunately for him, the park was huge.

Where could she be? He bit his lip slightly. She had mentioned something about liking sakura blossoms, which happened to be blossoming now. And there were two cherry blossom trees in the park, both in the middle.

Kouji growled slightly before starting to run again, this time his route taking him towards the middle of the park. It was the only hint he had as to her whereabouts.

Fukurokuju – the lucky god of happiness – seemed to be on his side, for as he neared the middle of the park, he began hearing quiet sobs.

Slowing to a halt, he surveyed the scene in front of him. Yolei was sitting on a bench between the two trees, crying, her back facing him.

He slowly made his way towards her and sat down beside her, one arm around her shoulders.

She didn't tense up or scream as most people would do. She simply buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry as though she had known it was him all along.

"It was my fault she died…" Yolei whispered between sobs. "If I hadn't asked her to give me a lift back home, she'd still be alive."

"You didn't know that she'd get into car crash," Kouji murmured gently as he pulled her into a soft hug.

"That doesn't change the fact that if she had stayed home, she'd still be alive." Yolei sobbed, wrapping her arms around Kouji chest.

He just silently rubbed comforting circles into Yolei's back as she continued to cry. "It'll be okay," he eventually murmured once her tears had subsided.

"When, Kouji?!" She looked up at him, desperation clear in her eyes. "When will it be okay? Tomorrow, next week, in a few years?" Kouji didn't reply, which Yolei took to be a sign that he didn't know. "I just want her back…" She whispered.

"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." Kouji gazed down at her. "As long as you remember her, she'll be alive."

Yolei glanced up at him, finally meeting his gaze. "But she's still dead, Kouji! I just-"

She was cut off as Kouji pressed his lips firmly against hers. Her shocked gasp was muted and after a few seconds, he pulled away.

"You need to go back to your house," he told her. She nodded mutely and stood up.

"Why did you kiss me?" She asked after a few minutes of following him out of the park.

Kouji glanced back at her, a small, sad smile on his face. "It wasn't to get you to shut up, if that's what you're thinking."

"Then why-?"

"There is more than one reason to kiss someone." Kouji abruptly stopped, causing Yolei to almost crash into him. "Such as because you might have feelings for them."

Yolei's eyes widened momentarily before she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry about what I said at the restaurant…" She said quietly.

Hearing her sounding so guilty made Kouji's heart throb. It was his fault that she was feeling so bad… that Kari had died. If he had just told her his name at the very start, none of it would have happened. He turned back to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

She squeaked slightly as she looked up to see Kouji smiling at her again. "I'm sorry too," he murmured before kissing her again.

This time, Yolei kissed him back, looping her arms around his neck.

When they pulled away, Yolei smiled slightly. Kouji was right. Kari's memory would live on in those who remembered her… she just hoped that she wasn't the only one who had realised this.