Urgh! I. Am. So. Sorry. For not updating. And making you wait a ridiculously long time. You can slap me. :( Really.

But please don’t be mad. I reread Crimson Butterfly a few minutes ago and I fell in love with it once more. Then, I reread the reviews and that just spurred me towards chapter 3! (And it’s a whooping 2000 words! Larger than ever! :O)

(You can throw something large, heavy, and bulky at me if you wish.)

Oh, and note in this chapter that “To-kun” is pronounced like “Toe-kun” or “Tou-kun”. Just a heads up. :)

With no further ado, Enjoy!~

The sun was shining, the birds chirping. It was another beautiful morning. Kanako sat quietly on a bench, reading a book. She had just come from the library. Although beautiful, it was still fall and rather cold. She’d remembered her jacket, but she still shivered.

Kanako looked up from her book as she heard a cry. A little boy had just ran past her until he tripped over a crack in the pavement and fell over. She quickly hurried over.

“A—Are you alright?” Kanako asked, concerned. The boy continued cry, grabbing a bloody knee. Kanako gulped. She usually fainted at the sight of blood. “I—It’s okay. Don’t worry, you’ll be alright.” She bravely helped the little boy back to her bench and quickly riffled through her bag. Pulling out a handkerchief, she kneeled down to help the boy. She half covered her eyes with one hand while she tried to clean up some of the blood with her other hand.

It didn’t work. Kanako sighed and finally used both hands to tie the handkerchief firmly on the boy’s knee. She then breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the boy. He had stopped crying somewhere during her concentration. She laughed nervously.

“Do you feel a little better?” He nodded. Kanako took a closer look at him. His eyes sort of looked like Kei’s…But the similarity ended there. The young boy had brown hair and didn’t seem to love food quite as much as Kei. Kanako laughed a little. “Well, go on home. You should get your knee cleaned, then bound with a cleaner cloth.” The boy nodded again, but said nothing. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and looked away.

“You…do know where your home is, right?” Kanako asked. Her question was answered by another nod. “Well…Here, I’ll take you home, okay?” The boy didn’t answer, but grabbed her hand and dragged her out the park.

xXxXxXx

Kanako knocked on the door. They had arrived at an apartment complex near the center of town. It was in a nice neighborhood which was very pretty with fountains and many trees. Nobody answered at first, so Kanako knocked again.

“Coming!” A familiar voice called out from inside. Kanako wrinkled her brow.

As the door swung open to reveal a dripping, orange-haired boy with just a towel on, Kanako gasped. The little boy beside ran inside quickly, leaving Kei and Kanako by themselves at the door.

“K-Kanako?”

“Y-yeah…I should leave or—”

“Wait, but you—”

“My books, they’re still…”

“I…”

Complete silence ensued. Kei opened the door a bit further. “Come in?” He smiled. Kanako’s already beet red face turned even redder. If that was possible. As she entered, she took careful care not to touch Kei, in case his loose towel fell off…

“I’m sorry to disturb you Kei-san…” Kanako said as soon as she was in the sitting room.

“Ahh, it’s just Kei. And it’s fine. I was just finishing in the shower.” Kei smiled at her. A moment passed before he reacted to Kanako’s looking away and turning red. “Oh! I should go put some clothes on, huh?” Kanako nodded quickly. Kei laughed and retreated back to his room.

As he left, she looked around the home. It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. The room she was in was decorated with different things in a totally unique way. There was a whole shelf filled with different figurines. She stepped over to look more closely.

“I’m back!” Kei called out. Kanako leaped back from the shelf. Unfortunately, there was a chair behind her, causing her to tangle her legs in the legs of the chair. She half fell until a strong pair of hands caught her. “Wow, you’re light, Ko-Ko!” Kanako hurried to stand up, but she couldn’t quite stop herself from noticing how soft Kei’s hands were... Or how cute he looked... Or how nice he smelled... Or…

“Kanako! Don’t faint!” Kei said quickly as he caught her again. This time, he carried her over to the couch. He frowned and quickly ran into the kitchen. He came back armed with some ice water and a towel. Kei pulled over a chair to sit beside Kanako. He poured some water into Kanako’s mouth, causing her to choke on it.

“I’m sorry!” Kei and Kanako yelled at the same time. They looked at each other. Kei was biting his lip looking really worried while Kanako was hyperventilating.

“I’m really, really sorry!” Kei whispered.

“It’s…It’s not your fault…” Kanako said, smiling a little. Kei hurried back to the kitchen to get the two of them some tea. While he was away, the little boy who Kanako had first met that day came into the room again.

He watched Kanako with a cocked head, his little eyes following her every move and taking in Kanako’s features. Kanako laughed nervously. “Uh-um…Hey there…”

Kei came back in the room. He saw the small figure standing by the door way and his eyes lit up. “To-kun!”

“To-kun?” Kanako intoned. She looked questioningly at the little boy.

“To-kun.” Kei nodded. “Wait a second…” Kei’s eyes narrowed. “You ran out of the house while I was showering!” The little brown haired boy pouted. Kei sighed. And then Kanako suddenly reacted.

“We have to clean his knee!” She said. Kei looked at her and scratched his head. “He was in the park and…and he tripped.”

Kei looked at To-kun and then at his knee. “Eep.” Kei hurried over to examine it. “Aww…Poor To-kun…” As he unwrapped the handkerchief from To-kun’s knee, it was still a little bloody, but a scab had already formed. Kei hurriedly wiped off the dry blood with a wet napkin.

“A-Are you two…related?” Kanako asked. Kei looked up.

“Eh? Me and To-kun?” Kei asked. Kanako nodded. “Yup. Me and him are cousins.” Kei said as he rubbed his head against the little boy’s. “Let’s get you some snacks, okay?” Kei said as he led him to the kitchen. Kanako smiled after him. So that explains the resemblance.

While Kanako heard the rustling of plastic bags in the kitchen, the door of Kei’s house door opened and a familiar dark-haired glasses boy walked in.

“Kei!” Ochiai yelled. Kanako gaped. Kei led To-kun back into the sitting room to see Ochiai and Kanako staring at each other.

“K-Kanako?” Ochiai asked with one eyebrow raised. Kei cocked his head. They were still staring at each other. He walked over to Ochiai and waved a hand in his face.

“Is Occhi still home?” Kei yelled in his ear. Ochiai jumped away.

“What was that for?!” He asked.

“You were staring too hard at Kanako.”

"Who said I couldn't?" Ochiai retorted.

"Kanako doesn't like it!"

“Well, maybe she didn’t mind.”

“Well…Well…Um…” Kei couldn’t come up with a comeback. He opened a bag of chips and started munching. Ochiai gave him a look, then sighed.

“I just came over to drop off some stuff you left in the SP room.” He said as he hefted a large box.

“Oh. Thanks Occhi.” Kei smiled. He offered Ochiai the chips, but he politely declined. Kanako and To-kun had watched the whole scene unfold quietly.

“Anyway, you haven’t told me why Kanako’s at your house yet.”

“You pass by Kiri’s house really often, so why can’t Kanako—”

“That’s different.” Ochiai quickly interrupted. Kanako looked at Ochiai.

“You…pass by Kiri’s often?”

“I…I just…It’s not like that.” Ochiai tried to explain.

“Ok.” Kanako said gently.

“…I should go.” He coughed and looked away.

“See you later, Ochiai.” Kei said as he shut the door behind him.

As Ochiai left the Minami’s house, he felt a sense of loss, though he couldn’t quite understand why. On his way home, he passed by the Koshiba Salon again. He could see Kiri from the outside, cutting hair casually with her hair tied back and wearing that same old baseball cap. He frowned. The old attraction was there, but…different. He shook himself and walked off…

Meanwhile, Kei had settled back on his chair. To-kun had also left to go to back into a bedroom. They were alone again.

“Kanako-chan…” He started. Kanako looked up at him.

“Yes?”

“I-I have a question to ask you.” Kei said nervously. Kanako studied his face, but her glance only took in his bright, soft, fluffy, hair that was…Wait, what was she thinking? Kanako tried to clear her head.

“What’s the question?”

“Do you…Um…Do you... still…” Kei stuttered. Kanako looked at him. “More tea?” He laughed weakly. Kanako frowned. “Right. I was just wondering… doyoustilllike—?”

Just as he said the last word, a car horn blared outside.

Kanako gave him a confused look. “Do I…What?” Kei sighed with a sad face.

“Never mind.”

“But the—”

“Don’t worry about it.” He interrupted. Kanako was even more confused now.

“O-Okay…” As the silence settled around them once more, the front door opened again.

“Kei-kun, honey! I’m back!” An unfamiliar bright and cheery voice called. Kanako and Kei both looked up.

A really pretty girl wearing a short mini-skirt and tank-top stood in the doorway. “Ahh! Hime-chan, aren’t you cold?” Kei fretted. He hurried over to her and closed the door behind her.

“Not at all when I have you!” She said happily. She embraced Kei in a hug and kissed him straight on the lips.

“Hime-chan!” Kei protested. She only giggled as she released him.

Kanako stared. “Who is that?” she thought.

Apparently, Hime-chan thought the exact same thing when she saw Kanako. “Kei-kun, who’s that girl on your couch?” She asked, sounding hurt.

“That’s Kanako.” Kanako noted that Kei didn’t call her Ko-Ko. And she didn’t quite have enough courage to ask Kei the same question the daring girl had asked him.

The strange girl twirled her blonde hair around her fingers. “But I thought that we were going to have some alone time this afternoon.” She pouted. Kanako’s jaw dropped a little.

“Alone time?” Kei asked, scratching his head.

“You look so cute without your hat, Kei-Kei!” She giggled as she stroked his head. Kei reacted like a cat and purred, which triggered even more giggles from Hime-chan. Kei then tackled her, tickling her and driving her to the ground.

As they were messing around, To-kun had silently came back into the room. He motioned for the stunned, but also annoyed, Kanako to come with him.

“Who-Who is that?” Kanako whispered to To-kun once they were in a bedroom.

“That’s Kei's 'Hime-chan'."

“Kei's-?” Kanako was still so surprised, she didn’t even realize it was the first time To-kun had spoken. He nodded and sat on the floor. “And what’s she to Kei-kun?”

“She’s his girlfriend.”

Haha, yes! Another cliffhanger! Now you’ll have to review! Muahahaha—!!

-slap-

Ow! Jeez! Why’d you slap me? Because…They don’t have to review? Whaaaat? Aww, man!

Anyway… look forward to Chapter 4… -…mumblemumblemumble…-