“I do not mind covering for you, however… You know you could have stayed the night at my home as well,” Luchia sighed, “I could have had a car sent out for you if need be.”

While the handling of a man like Kaito was of no issue to Luchia, a girl as naive as Himeko could be easily fooled by the cunning tricks of a former yakuza member. Of course, this was not something Luchia expected, she did after all have her own feelings towards Kaito in the past, and knew he did not always mean harm. However, she knew what he was capable of.

“Kaito is… fine, I suppose, but I do not… trust him as much as you may,” She continued, “Like I have said before in the past, I do not necessarily dislike the man, but his instability worries me.”

“I just care for your… safety is all.”

— ♕ —

Himeko let out a sigh of relief as Luchia said she didn’t mind covering for her --  but when Luchia mentioned she could’ve stayed at her house, Himeko suddenly felt the need to explain herself. “O-Oh I know, Luchia-chan! And I would have, truly! B-But .... I really wanted to see Kaito-kun...”  She added softly, brown eyes aimed towards the mug in front of her.

Luchia raised a hand as her friend trailed off and proceeded to lift herself from her seat. Once standing, she took her tea and the raspberry latte from the table and brought them to the counter. After handing the cold drinks to the barista to dispose of she took her card from her wallet and ordered a new set of drinks. Less than a minute later she returned to the table with the drinks. Luchia quietly sat herself back down at the table and slid the hot latte over to a very pink Himeko.

Taking a sip from her new, hotter, tea, Luchia set the drink down and folded her hands together and put them to her lips, “And why- pray tell- did you spend the night at Kaito’s despite telling your father otherwise?” She set her hands back down onto her cup, looked straight into Himeko’s eyes, and lowered her voice, almost hissing, “If he did anything to you I’ll have him killed.”

— ♕ —

She watched, quietly and a little stunned as Luchia took the drinks from the table and ordered a set of new ones. It didn’t slip past the girl how her best friend was clearly not impressed with this news -- but Himeko truly didn’t think it was anything bad. Other then lying to her father, of course, which was something Himeko had never done. She tried not to lie to her parents.

When Luchia came back with new, hot drinks, Himeko picked up her raspberry latte, taking a soft sip of it. She watched Luchia over the rim of the mug. She could’ve disappeared into nothing from the way Luchia looked at her. Himeko knew she didn’t like Kaito, but hoped to make her see how good he was to her. The meaning of Luchia’s words, however, went completely over Himeko’s innocent little mind. The girl just sat there, blinking for a moment. Luchia’s threat was hard for her to process.

8:47 a.m. An early hour to be out and about on a weekend according to the average student, but for Luchia at this moment in time, it was actually quite late. Having arrived at her current location at the local coffee shop 20 minutes prior, she began to worry about her company’s whereabouts. Himeko was not one to be late- or rather, she was definitely not a very punctual person, but she wouldn’t be this late without notice. Luchia sighed and took a sip of her now lukewarm milk tea, she was just about to pick up her phone and text her friend for answers when the door to the the very quiet cafe slammed open. 

“Ah, there you are, I was just about to text you,” Luchia said as her friend sat down at the table. “You’re a tad too late though, your drink has gone cold,” she added, gesturing towards the raspberry latte she had ordered her friend upon her arrival.

“You’re going to have to order a new-” She cut herself off, “Wait a moment…” Luchia paused to evaluate Himeko’s current condition: hair disheveled, minimal makeup if any on her face, and a goddamned hoodie in the height of spring. “You came from where now?”

— ♕ —

“Oh, that’s alright -- I’m sorry you had to waste it, I’ll pay for the new one!” Himeko said confidently, ready to order a new one before Luchia cut herself off. She looked a little shocked as Luchia paused, her eyes glancing over her before questioning her. Himeko’s cheeks remained flushed pink. Naively, Himeko hoped it would go unnoticed that she wasn’t wearing her usual type of clothing or how bare her face was -- but those type of things would never slip past Luchia, not on a normal day and certainly not when it came to Himeko. 

The girl gave her best friend another sheepish smile. “U-Uh, I came from Kaito-kun’s...” She said softly, wiggling a bit in her seat as she looked down at the chilled latte. Himeko had nothing to be ashamed about, really. She had gone to Kaito in a time of need and he comforted her -- like a good boyfriend should. She just also happened to stay overnight. 

Spending the night at Kaito’s for the first time, though nerve-wracking for her ; had been relaxing. Sleeping beside him in bed, snuggled up in his arms -- it was beyond easy for Himeko to oversleep and that was exactly what she did. With a surprised squeal and a good morning kiss to Kaito, Himeko shot out of the bed, throwing on the change of clothes she had brought with her which only constant of a pair of white jeans, a pink t-shirt and the hoodie she had worn the night before. She completely forgotten she was meeting Luchia for coffee at the cafe that morning, so she didn’t pack any of her makeup nor any of her jewelry. Grabbing her purse, Himeko was out the door, racing towards the cafe.

As soon as she got there, barging into the door -- she gave Luchia a sheepish smile. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry Luchia-chan.” Himeko sat down across from her, putting her purse on the floor. “I-I was at Kaito-kun’s last night and then I overslept!” She exclaimed, tucking some ebony hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushed with a blush. “I forgot to set an alarm and of course he didn’t have one set for this early.”