Author's note:

A word of warning- I can't write romantic scenes to save my life, but it's not like Sunako and Kyohei are the world's gushiest couple, so that's okay, right? Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this story. It should be about five parts long.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Part One:

It was Sunako Nakahara's favorite type of day- cold, damp, and miserable. Most people looked outside on days like this and started fantasizing about their next summer vacation, but at the moment Sunako was about as close as she ever got to downright perky. Halloween was coming- only three weeks to prepare!- and she had loads of stuff to do: pumpkins to carve, treats to make, unrated direct-to-video slasher movies to order from e-Bay….

Secure in the knowledge that no direct rays of sunlight would pop out of a cloud and assault her, Sunako trotted swiftly down the street toward the market, calculating how many more pumpkins and black candles she could stuff onto her windowsills without causing an actual fire. She was so busy with her mental rearranging that she nearly walked into a tall young man, dressed all in black, clutching a sketchbook. Muttering an apology, she slipped around him-

-only to stop, abruptly, when he grabbed her arm. "Er, excuse me, miss," the young man said, flushing deeply, "Would you… that is…you see, I'd really like to speak with you about something. I- I promise it's nothing bad. Would you consider accompanying me for some tea?"

Sunako's eyes narrowed.

ooooo

Kyohei, Ranmaru, Yuki, and Takenaga were lounging on the floor in front of the mansion's enormous television set, stuffing their faces with junk food and watching anime.

"I'm out of chips," Kyohei announced. "Hey, Ranmaru, give me some of yours."

"No way," Ranmaru replied, clutching his bag of chips protectively. "You're such a pig, Kyohei. Wait 'til Sunako gets home and go pester her for some food."

Kyohei glared at him and Ranmaru braced himself for the prospect of fighting a (losing) battle over his snack when they heard the kitchen door slam shut. "Yay! Sunako-chan's home!" Yuki cheered. "I'm going to go find out what's for dinner!" Scrambling to his feet, Yuki threw open the door to the kitchen, a wide, welcoming smile on his face. "Sunako-chan! What's for din-" Yuki stopped abruptly, his eyes enormous. "Who's that?"

Who's that? There was a stranger here? Curious, the other three stood up and wandered to the kitchen door. Standing behind Sunako was a young man of about twenty years of age. He was tall, thin, and remarkably good-looking, if not quite in the foursome's class. He was dressed all in black, with short, artfully messy black hair… and he was staring at Sunako with a look of dazed joy on his face. He barely glanced at the four boys standing frozen in the doorway.

Sunako nodded a hello at her stunned housemates. "I picked up some instant noodles for you," she announced brusquely, ignoring Yuki's question. "You'll have to make dinner for yourselves tonight. C'mon," she said to the stranger, "let's go to my room." And without another glance in the boys' direction, she coolly took the young man's arm and pulled him out of the kitchen.

Dazed, the four boys stood like statues for another moment, unable to comprehend the thought of Sunako willingly inviting anyone- yet alone an attractive older guy- into her bedroom.

Kyohei was the first to speak. "Who… who was that?" A hideous thought suddenly struck him, and he turned on Yuki, grabbing him by the collar. "I'm hallucinating, aren't I? Did you slip some of your poisonous cooking into my bento?"

Yuki, terrified, denied this.

Takenaga, always the calmest of the group, pulled Kyohei away from Yuki and turned to Ranmaru, his eyes thoughtful. "Well, Ran, what do you think?"

Ranmaru pondered the situation, evaluating it with the eye of a world-class Casanova. "An older man… well, if that's Sunako's style it would explain why she never fell in love with me, I suppose." He mulled it over, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "This might be a very hopeful sign. An older, more experienced guy… our little Sunako-chan will blossom like a flower under his expert care. She'll be racking up charges at lingerie shops and getting stuff waxed in no time." He trailed off, gazing dreamily off at some perverted vision that (thankfully) only he could see.

Kyohei could feel bile rising. "Shut up, perv! And just who will make my dinner while Sunako's off "blossoming", huh? I don't like instant noodles! I want shrimp! And pork! And deep-fried vegetables!"

"I'll make dinner," Yuki offered innocently. A spasm of horror crossed over Kyohei's face.

"We all have to make sacrifices," Takenaga said soothingly, stepping in front of Yuki protectively. "And just think, Kyohei- if Ranmaru's right, free rent. Free rent, man! Isn't that worth a few crappy meals?"

Kyohei mentally weighed this. Free rent versus Sunako's cooking…. If he had already eaten this would have been a no-brainer in favor of the free rent, but right now he was hungry, so the "Sunako's cooking" option was putting up a hell of a battle. Still, after a fierce internal debate, his bone-deep cheapness eventually won out and he gave a grudging nod. "Fine, then," he said. Then he narrowed his eyes at Ranmaru. "But you better be right about this. I'm not giving up Sunako's cooking without seeing some results. That girl better be looking ladylike real fast."

"Oh, she will be," Ranmaru assured him. "What could go wrong?"

A silence fell as the boys pondered this.

"Well," Takenaga pointed out, "She could suddenly come back to her senses and maim him. Then he might sue."

"Or he might take one look at her room and drop dead." Yuki frowned. "It is possible to actually die of fear, right?"

Kyohei just sat and scowled at the teakettle heating on the stove as the boys began to argue over which possibility was more likely. Who cared what happened to that guy? He was probably just another one of Sunako's pity cases. For a girl that professed to have no friends, Sunako was forever finding new people to look after. He had to admit, though- this one hadn't reeked of neediness the way that most of the people that Sunako showed up with did. This guy had just seemed weird…

…and irritatingly chipper.

It was kind of odd, now that he thought about it. What would Sunako want with a guy like that? He frowned over this for a moment, but eventually gave a mental shrug and dismissed the entire situation from his mind. If Ranmaru was right- yay, free rent! And if he was wrong, the guy would be gone soon enough and everything would go back to normal. Either way, Kyohei figured, it had nothing to do with him….

TBC