“Toshiro!” Kaede called out to him as she peeked her head out of the window from the third floor.

“You know, it's dangerous to do that” Misaki said with a stern expression. “I'll be leaving early for today as I'm meeting a friend. You can lock the office after you leave”

“Sorry, Kaichou” Kaede had an embarrassed look on her face as she slowly closed the window. She then plopped herself on the couch and proceeded to play on her handheld console.

“Do you have any news on the whereabouts of your brother?”

“He's probably lazing off somewhere, Kaichou. You know him”

Misaki shook her head in disbelief as talking to her boyfriend's little sister was a challenge sometimes.

After arranging the papers and placing them aside. Misaki handed the key to Kaede and left the office.

xx

At a cafe downtown

“About your request for finding your missing boyfriend. I'm a bit short on information” Miku took a sip of her coffee and placed it down on the saucer.

“It's fine, I appreciate your help with this” Misaki said

“How long was your boyfriend missing?”

“It's been a week now”

“None of the pigs yielded any results. Whoever took him must be a professional”

“Anyway, what's this about the double session that you mentioned last night via text?”

Miku took out a brown envelope from her bag and handed it over to Misaki.

“That contains the address of the wealthy pig and your share of the payment of course”

Misaki opened the envelope and looked inside. She nodded her head and placed the envelope on the table.

“Fifty-Fifty right?”

“Of course, I wouldn't plan on cheating my partner on this” Miku winked. “I also heard that this pig has a basement full of toys that we could use. I can't wait to test it out on him!”

xx

Toshiro and Kaede traversed the road as they went home from school but he didn't expect that Keiji would tag along with them.

“I don't really know why you came along” Toshiro said as he looked at Keiji, slightly irritated.

“Relax, lover boy! I just felt like walking home with you”

Keiji had self-satisfied smile on his face as he munched on the chips that he was holding. He leaned closer onto Toshiro's ear and whispered.

“I got word of a limited figurine set of Honma Yujiro and Muramoto Konoe. I bet if you give it to her, you might get a chance of popping her cherry”

(A/N: Muramoto Konoe is the main heroine of My Sweet Otoko)

“That is true” Toshiro nodded his head and turned to look at Keiji with a puzzled expression.

“How on earth do you know about that?”

“I told you before, it ain't a challenge for me” Keiji sticked out his hand to Toshiro as if he was gesturing for a handshake. “So, do you want the figurine or not?”

“It's a deal”

Both men shook hands and mischievously giggled. This caught the attention of Kaede who was busily playing her game and was somehow alarmed with the two.

xx

The next day, Keiji and Toshiro met at the back of the school to talk about the figurine.

“I'll be meeting up with the dealer of the figurine later. Do you want to come with me, Toshiro?”

“Nah, I promised that I'll be eating lunch with her today”

“Alright but don't forget what I told you! You'll be a full fledged man now, if you do it with her”

xx

The sound of the bell was heard all over the speakers of the school. Some students took out their lunchboxes while the others went to the cafeteria to eat.

Kaede neatly arranged the books on her bag, placing it aside. She took out the wrapped bento from her desk and was about to leave the classroom when one of the girls called out to her from their table.

“Kaede-san, let's have lunch together!”

“Erina!” the second girl scolded the first one. “Don't you see that class rep has a lunch date today?”

“Eh? How lovely!”

Kaede bade her goodbye to the two and went to the back of the school where Toshiro was.

“Toshiro! Sensei was looking for you as you didn't show up in class today” She pouted

“Ahhh” Toshiro stumbled on his words while looking away. He didn't want to tell her about his deal with Keiji.

“Well?” Kaede leaned her face forward with an irritated expression.

“I need to find a way to weasel out of this! Damn you walking tub of lard!”

A trickle of cold sweat dripped down his forehead as Kaede's gaze were like sharp daggers piercing through his soul. However, a bright idea suddenly came to his head.

“I-I overslept today” Toshiro stammered.

Kaede sighed as she shook her head. It was an obvious lie but she figured that she would ride on with it.

“Alright, I'll believe you but don't skip classes next time or I'll break up with you!”

Toshiro was taken aback with what she said. “B-Break up?”

“You're kidding right?”

“Do I look I'm kidding? I swear Toshiro, if you try to skip classes next time...”

“Yes, I won't skip classes next time” He placed both of his hands on the side and quickly bowed his head down. “It's a promise!”

Kaede's expression turned from irritated to joyful upon hearing those words.

“I'm glad that you understand. Now, shall we eat lunch together” She leaned over to his ear and added. “To-shi-ro sa-ma”

Toshiro's eyes began to widen and he eagerly helped Kaede on setting up the bento.

“I can't believe that Kaede-chan can be that scary too! Who knew that Danchou's cute little sister can be a mean tiger like Kaichou?” one of the men exclaimed.

“Ah, women. They are so hard to understand” the other one said as he took a long gulp on his soda.

xx

The bleak and dark foyer greeted Misaki as she came home from school. It was a long busy day as there were tons of paperwork that had to be signed.

She took off her shoes and slowly walked along the dull hallway towards the bedroom.

“How many days has it been since Kazu-kun disappeared without a trace”

Misaki plopped herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Seconds turn into minutes and minutes turn into hours. It is all the same or it no longer is as time itself seemed to stop for her.

For a moment, she envisioned him lying on the bed beside her, holding her hand tightly and felt a pang of loneliness.

Misaki felt abandoned, hopeless and in despair. All these emotions were driving her insane.

She desperately longed for his touch, his smile and his presence but all that remained was the inevitable feeling of being alone.