"Mine or yours?" s.h.i.+nichi questioned lightly.

"Do you have stuff you should be doing at home since you just got back?" Danika asked.

"You…" he complained, "are purposefully trying to miss the point, aren't you?"

Danika blushed, but she didn't have to answer because a small group of girls approached them as soon as they exited the doors. After they got close, they took turns pus.h.i.+ng each other forward, with many blushes and giggles.

"Great…" s.h.i.+nichi muttered, before smiling politely at them.

Danika was rather impressed that he had so much composure. It kind of showed how much he really relaxed around her.

The next girl pushed to the front, glanced back at her companions and then asked nervously, "Um, we were wondering if she's your sister or something?"

Silence answered her inquiry, and the girl behind her glared at Danika and asked directly, "Are you his relative?"

Danika glanced up and back at s.h.i.+nichi and froze. His face was set in a carefully neutral expression, but his body was stiff and his hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"It's a simple question," the one who hadn't dared to speak first snapped rudely.

After a moment Danika replied, "Not that it's any business of yours?"

"See, I told you they had to be related, she's in a chair," one of the girls hissed.

"I'm sorry, it was pretty rude," the one who'd been pushed to the front apologized quickly, "but everyone wants to know what his girlfriend Mei looks like!"

"My name is not Mei," Danika replied with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Ha, I knew you couldn't be!" one of them insisted.

They all looked at Danika and s.h.i.+nichi again, and then the one in front said quickly, "Um, sorry for interrupting your outing."

"Can I get an autograph," one of the ones at the back asked faintly.

s.h.i.+nichi finally spoke, but his voice was a bit harsh as he said, "Not today. There will be a signing session after our homecoming concert Friday night."

"Oh, alright, thank you," the one in front said nervously. The entire group retreated in a disorganized fas.h.i.+on.

"Ugh, those sessions cost extra," one of them grumbled before they got out of range.

Danika turned awkwardly in her chair and gazed up at s.h.i.+nichi questioningly. His hands still gripped it with painful looking force, and even though he was trying to maintain a neutral expression, he looked angry.

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"What's wrong?" Danika asked worriedly.

He glanced around briefly, shook his head and said stiffly, "I'll take you home."

Danika frowned, but after a moment she decided that he didn't want to make his complaints in public. All the way back to her apartment she a.n.a.lyzed the incident in her head, and still couldn't figure out what had made him so angry suddenly.

--

s.h.i.+nichi was definitely still angry by the time they arrived. When she told her door to open as they approached, he halted suddenly in front of it. Danika activated her chair and spun it so that she was facing him as she backed through her doorway.

"s.h.i.+nichi," she said quietly when he didn't step forward, "you're actually mad at me for some reason aren't you?"

He opened his mouth, but then shut it again and ran both hands through his hair, and then used one hand to rub his face. "I'm angry with them for asking, and you for answering like that," he admitted reluctantly.

He hadn't moved toward her, and she gazed at him worriedly. After another long moment, she glanced up and down the hall and then suggested, "Then come in and yell at me in private until I have some idea of what you think I said wrong? Because I don't have any idea, and you look like you're about to walk away…" she couldn't finish that sentence aloud. '…and break my heart into a million pieces.'

"It's not your fault," he ground out after a moment. "I'm just, I'd rather not yell at you."

"Don't trust me as much as your Dad yet?" she tried to suggest lightly, but it was flavored with bitterness.

"What?" he asked blankly, as though she had said something completely random.

"You're afraid to yell at me," she explained bitterly, "or even tell me why you're mad."

"Danika," he protested, but he didn't say anything except her name, or step forward.

She lifted her chin, turned her chair into its place, and moved across onto her familiar floor, before daring to look back and see if he was still there.

He was standing there, covering his face, and she wished that she had moved back to him instead of away. "s.h.i.+nichi," she called, with tears tightening her throat. "You've never said anything about how I should answer if anyone asked, and you didn't even hesitate to prove to my cousin that we're dating?"

He stepped forward swiftly and reached out to grip her shoulders. "No! But you are willing to imply that you're just a relative!"

Danika gazed up at him in surprise. "What?"

"When you said 'not that it's any business of yours', you didn't even deny it!" he complained.

"I didn't imply that I was either!" Danika protested. "I pretty much implied that they have your girlfriend's name wrong…"

He let go of her and turned and sat on the edge of the floor beside her. His hand had moved back up to cover his face and he didn't speak, he just sat there for a minute.

Danika glanced at the door, and then stealthily sent it the command to close. She scooted closer to s.h.i.+nichi and reached out to place her hand on his arm. After a moment he sighed.

He dropped his hand and looked into her worried face. "You couldn't just say, 'no, I'm his girlfriend'," he complained.

"Is that allowed?" she asked.

He leaned closer and asked dryly in return, "Allowed by who?"

She waved her hands helplessly. "Um, your contract, the company, publicity people? I don't know?"

He huffed a laugh and bent far enough to lay his head on her shoulder. Danika reached her arms as far around him as she could and hugged him. She thought about how she'd replied to the girls again.

"Besides," she said teasingly after a moment, "you actually wanted me to say, 'yes, I am his relative' didn't you?"

s.h.i.+nichi pushed away from her instantly and protested, "No!"

Danika worried that maybe her amus.e.m.e.nt was really badly timed, but she went ahead and asked with false innocence, "Aren't you just waiting for me to say I'm ready to marry you?"

"You…" he complained.

"…are purposefully trying to understand you?" she suggested.

"Maybe," he agreed.

The corner of his mouth turned up and Danika scooted closer and demanded a make-up kiss. After a while she suggested, "We could log in to do a guild quest together?"

"I don't have my phone," s.h.i.+nichi reminded her. He released her and pinched her cheeks lightly before admitting, "I know I kind of scolded you before, for making a.s.sumptions about how people think of you, but it made me so angry that they didn't automatically a.s.sume that you had to be my girlfriend…"

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

He reached up and tapped her nose. "No."

When she realized that it was how you'd train a pet not to do something, she narrowed her eyes at him. "You can use my computer," she pointed out helpfully.

He laughed.