"Gay?"

Kanako froze in horror. Her worst fears had just become a living nightmare. She watched as the three girl's faces contorted with utter disgust. The rumors had spread around, and it was now floating around that Kanako Miyamae was, indeed, attracted to the same sex.

She knew she couldn't hide it forever, and it had been only a matter of time before it got out to the public.

People had begun to put the pieces together after several coincidental nosebleeds and reoccurring, lingering stares directed in unusual places.

Under normal circumstances, this may not have been as big of a deal, but keep in mind: Little Kanako attended an all-girls Catholic school. And the general interpretation the followers of god derived from the bible, was that homosexuality was a sin.

It's looked down upon; disgraced.

There were some open-minded people that over-looked that detail, but these three girls that were interrogating her currently, evidently weren't part of that exception.

"Are you serious? How disgusting can you get?" the brunette spat angrily.

"You dare show your face at Ame no Kisaki? A Catholic school?! You're a disgrace to the word of God! Burn in hell you little pig!"

Kanako shrank back as the girl raised her fist to strike at the raven-haired girl.

'Dear mother in heaven, please help me…' Kanako pleaded desperately in her thoughts. She cringed, preparing to shield her face from the impact…

…

Moments passed, yet Kanako was confused to find that she felt no pain, nor had felt a forceful collision of her face meeting a set of knuckles. She reluctantly moved her arm that blocked her vision and pried open an eyelid to see what had stopped it.

"You got a lot of nerve," a familiar, semi-masculine, voice growled out.

Kanako's eyes widened, fractionally in surprise. A blonde-headed student in pigtails was standing in front of her, shielding her from the simple-minded girls that threatened to inflict harm on her.

"Attacking a student like this, for no logical reason…"

Mariya tightened his grip on the girl's wrist that he had caught just before she was about to strike Kanako.

The girl being held captive winced in pain and opened her mouth to speak.

"No," he cut her off. "Generally, I would try to handle a situation like this one rationally, and without conflict, but you have no authority over what Kana-Chan chooses to believe in. What's more, you made an assumption based of rumors. Don't you dare try to lay a hand on her again. Consider this a warning. Got it?" Mariya tried to control the masculine-feminine ratio of his pitch during his rant. He apparently masked it quite well, because the girls didn't make any move to confront the blonde about it. They just gaped in fear, clearly intimidated by the Shidou's capabilities.

"W-We're sorry," the brunette sputtered out. "Please don't report us! It won't happen again."

Mariya scoffed, but took their word for it. He released the girl's wrist reluctantly, moments later.

The group scurried off like bats out of hell, leaving the blonde and the raven alone in the hallway.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Mariya decided to speak up.

"You're… you're not hurt are you?" he asked off-handedly.

Kanako was still in shock from the protectiveness Mariya displayed over her. She was at a loss for words, to say the least…

When Kanako failed to respond after a few seconds dragged by, Mariya growled in annoyance. "You hard of hearing, idiot?"

The insult broke Kanako out of her daze. She shook her head and swallowed dryly, trying to gather the words appropriate in response.

"I'm…" she furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be upset at Mariya's insult. "I'm fine."

Instead of her response coming out firm as intended, her voice was shaky and unconvincing. This did not go unnoticed by blonde. He quirked an eyebrow, but did not pry.

Instead he let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever, as long as you're fine, I guess. Just… be careful…" Mariya glanced at Kanako with an uncharacteristic look in his eyes. It was somehow filled with emotion. Generally, the red orbs were cold and lifeless…

'Am I… did I just imagine that?' Kanako thought in awe.

As soon as the slight sign of what could be the only proof that Mariya was actually human appeared; it flickered away, as good as gone.

She wanted to say something, but the words didn't come out. They were caught in her throat.

"I'll meet you at the dorms later, yeah? Don't worry; I don't think they'll bother you again. I have some student council business to attend to."

She desperately wanted to ask him why he had stood up for her like that. But… even if he did actually care, it was Mariya. He wouldn't admit to it anyways.

She put her head at ease with that fact, and simply nodded warily in response to Mariya's words.

Mariya hesitated for a moment before nodding in acknowledgement and walking off to tend to his duties as a student council member.

'What… what is this feeling in my chest? The tingling in the pit of my stomach… what's happening to me?'

[Timeskip]

The rest of the day went by relatively fast. Kanako studied all afternoon for the upcoming semester exam and Mariya didn't return until around 7:00 p.m.

It was now currently 9:00, and the two were lounging on their beds in silence.

Mariya was reading from an English textbook, trying to study, but he found that his mind kept wandering to the raven-haired girl on the left side of the room.

He mentally slapped himself every time he became distracted. 'I can't be thinking about that idiot. I need to be concentrating on my studies! Damn that bitch for making me feel this way…'

He shook his head, frustrated at himself.

'Maybe I should just peek at what she is doi—'

"Mariya," Kanako said, breaking the silence and surprising Mariya.

The latter turned his head to see Kanako wearing her yellow polka dot, silken pajamas. She was sitting up on her calves, facing Mariya with the cutest, curious look on her face.

'Bad thoughts… act natural, fool,' Mariya scolded himself mentally.

"What is it?" he tried to say as impatiently as possible.

"Er… I was just wondering… do you think it's possible for me to actually find my true love here?" Kanako asked, cheekily.

Mariya raised his eyebrows at the question. Normally he would be as much of a dick as possible with such a naïve question, but the somber, yet hopeful look on in those blue orbs of hers did not let him act on instinct. He took a long look at the girl before sighing and shutting his textbook. He set it aside next to him on his bed, and sat up, turning his body to face her.

"In all honesty, no," he said bluntly.

Kanako's face fell immediately. "Y-you… jer—"

Mariya held up a hand to silence her.

"Hear me out."

The girl swallowed roughly, but complied, unsure of whether or not she wanted to hear his answer.

"If you look for it, you're not going to find it…" he started.

Kanako furrowed her eyebrows, visibly puzzled.

"Love is something that comes by naturally. If you force it, it's not love. Simply an illusion you created by convincing yourself, that's what it is. By you trying to find and decide who you love is precisely why you cannot find it."

"Wha…? That sounds like nonsense… how can I find love if I'm not even trying?"

"Che…" Mariya turned his gaze away from Kanako and settled it on the wall, focusing on nothing in particular. "Even if I explained it, you wouldn't get it. It's something you need to figure out for yourself."

Kanako groaned audibly and sprawled out on her mattress, burying her face in her pillow. "You make everything so complicated," she complained, her voice sounding quite muffled. Mariya sill understood her, nonetheless, due to the loud volume in which she generally chose to speak in. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"No, you're the one making it more complicated for yourself."

Kanako didn't respond, she was beginning to lose herself in thought. She rested her chin on the pillow that rested on her arms, and she gazed blankly at the headboard of her bed. "Say… have you ever been in love?"

Mariya's eyes widened slightly. He was caught off guard by the question.

"… I'm not inclined to answer that."

…

There was a long silence after that. Mariya half-expected Kanako to pout about not sharing his love life with her, but surprisingly, that was not what she did.

Instead, she continued talking.

"I've never been in love I don't think… I haven't even held hands romantically with a girl, let alone kissed her," Kanako said, pouting at her misfortune with the ladies.

"Well, why's it gotta' be a girl anyways?"

Kanako furrowed her eyebrows, "Because-"

"They're more attractive physically?" Mariya finished for her. "So what? If it's about true love, do looks really even matter?" he demanded, a bit harsher than intended.

Kanako was now looking at Mariya again, her mouth open in surprise.

He had a point…

"I… never really thought about it like that," she admitted.

"That's part of your problem, then."

Kanako felt lost at that moment… had she really been going about this the wrong way all along…?

She never considered gender being affiliated with looks, but now that Mariya pointed that out… he was right.

"So… would you be with a man if that's who you loved?"

Mariya shrugged. "I suppose. Though, my attention has been focused on… someone else for a while now anyways."

"Oh…" Kanako muttered out barely audible.

'This feeling again… is it… disappointment?'

She shook her head. 'No! I can't focus on that…'

She desperately tried to pry away from pondering on her strange, conflicting emotions. With a little success, she remembered something.

"But… what about hives?"

Mariya looked up at her with a questioning glance.

"Hives," Kanako repeated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You do realize, even though they can be triggered subconsciously, that it's more psychological than anything, right?" he questioned, giving her a look that read, 'are you fucking stupid?'.

Ever the oblivious one, Kanako furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean?"

Mariya almost face-palmed, but… he suddenly came up with a better idea. A devious smirk played at the corners of his lips.

"Er… what's that look about?" Kanako asked, finding the blonde's sudden change in demeanor unnerving.

Mariya didn't respond. He just stood up off his bed and began approaching Kanako slowly.

The girl's eyes widened in panic. "Wh-what are you doing?" she backed up against the wall hastily as he got up on her bed, causing it to shift slightly.

He began crawling towards her until he had her inches from him, and pinned against the wall.

The heat began to rise to Kanako's face, creating a visible, beet-red blush on her pale skin.

Mariya smirked at her nervous reaction. He began to lean more closely…

Kanako shut her eyes tightly. 'Is he going to kiss me?!' She pressed her lips together in a tight line, rejecting the idea. 'Don't…'

She felt a wave of heat ghost over her neck, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Moments later, she felt a moist appendage slide up her neck, starting at the base; eliciting a whimper to strain from Kanako's lips.

"M-mariya…" she began. She liked the feeling undoubtedly, but her head kept rejecting the idea.

"Don't think about it. You wanna get over this hives business, yeah?" he mumbled against her neck. He began trailing butterfly kisses up her throat.

"Nnn… yeah…" she managed breathily, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

He kissed across her jawline, placed one small kiss on her chin, and then hesitated, hovering over her lips.

"Then shut up."

With that, he pressed his lips firmly against hers.

She just sat there at first, as he kissed her, unsure of what she was supposed to do. She clenched the comforter that rested underneath her, nervously; ruffling it all up.

'I want to stop him, but… why can't I?'

Mariya pinched her ass, causing her to squeal. He used this as a chance to get his tongue inside her mouth and explore it. He ran the thick muscle along the inside of her wet cavern, dominating the kiss.

Kanako began to get the hang of it after a while. She experimentally nudged her tongue against his, and started responding by moving her lips and interlocking them with his.

The make-out session continued for quite a while, and eventually Mariya's pajama pants felt much too tight for comfort. He began kissing the raven-haired girl more roughly, pushing her gently back against the mattress. He gave her bottom lip a gentle nip and began kissing down her neck.

Each light peck placed, created tingles and waves of heat to form beneath Kanako's pale skin. She bit her lip to hold back a moan from escaping her lips.

Once Mariya reached her collarbone, he moved his hand to unbutton her pajama shirt. Each button that was removed from the slits in the cloth made Kanako feel more and more uneasy.

Mariya slowly, but surely, got to the last button and slid the article of clothing off her shoulders. Instinctively, Kanako moved her arms to cover herself, feeling quite self-concious.

Mariya clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"None of that, now," he said huskily as he moved her arms that were blocking his view. He leaned back in for another kiss to distract her, as he reached back behind her and unsnapped the clasp that held her bra together. He slid the straps off her shoulders, removing it, and tossing it aside.

Kanako squeaked against Mariya's lips in surprise as she felt a warm hand clasp around her right breast. Mariya began kneading her breast, all the while teasing her nipple, eliciting a satisfying moan from the raven-haired girl.

She was too consumed by pleasure at this point to force herself to stop. She'd think about the possible consequences later, but for now…

Kanako's train of thought went south, when she felt Mariya's hips grind into her own.

Hahahaha, before you try and find my address and slice my jugular in my sleep, hear me out. I have a totally rational explanation as to why I ended this early... kinda. Well okay so I found this in my folders, it was something I had started but never finished, and it was intended to be only a one-shot. It was supposed to be cute but also, as you fellers would call it "lemony", but ah, it's like five in the morning and I do not intend on finishing it at this time. I figured i might as well post SOMETHING due to my lack of updating on anything else. If I get enough feedback on this, I may just feel motivated enough to either continue this, or start anew on a one-shot. Hell, if I get back into it, I may just finish up an old one, who knows. I love all of you that give feedback, thank you xoxo and all that good sexy stuff I do to you all in your sweet dreams. Good night all ~ *Insert heart here*