"It was a mistake to come here," Gendo said quietly. "This is... all wrong."

Yui smiled gently, hoping it would put him at ease, as she retook her seat. "It's not wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong with us being together and talking like this."

"We should have been having a nice dinner, not listening to me go on and on about..."

"Gendo, hush. Let's just eat now and we can talk about it later. I don't think we'll accomplish much here."

Propping his head in his hands, Gendo found himself no longer hungry. "I really shouldn't have brought this up when you have finals to worry about."

"You have finals too. Aren't you worried about them?"

Gendo looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "No. It's not worth it to get worried over finals."

"Oh, that's right. You know everything." Yui stuck her tongue out at him, just glad that his mood had lifted.

"That's just what I'd expect from a mature woman like yourself. Always so proper and refined..."

"And how refined do you think this is?" she said quietly, and very briefly flipped him off so no one else would see.

Gendo grinned. "Yeah, that's what I'm used to from you. You like to pretend you're so concerned about school and work, but..."

"But what?"

"But I see that person inside, just waiting to come out, waiting to throw off all this working and studying."

Yui shook her head. "Well it's nice to know Rokubungi the Magnificent doesn't know everything, even if you've fooled everyone else."

"I think the only one I've fooled is you. The professors sure don't think much of me," Gendo countered, trading easy smiles with Yui.

"I also know you better than that. The overall effect is quite... cute." At the wince her comment received, Yui's smile widened. "Are we done here yet? Sitting around at my place would be more fun than here, I think."

"Let's get the rest of it to go then. It is a bit pretentious here, isn't it?" He was losing his edge and it was all because of Yui. There was something like a warm glow in him, especially when she expressed something that he agreed with.

Did she know? Did he have the same affect on her? He certainly didn't have the nerve to ask. Instead, he just sighed quietly as he looked at her.

"I recognize that look and that sigh," Yui said, though bringing up specific examples as to why would probably have been a bad thing.

"Get used to it."

"Your attitude has really changed, and I like that a lot." It was becoming more and more obvious to her that this apartment wasn't simply a financial decision. In the beginning, she had done a very good job of convincing herself otherwise, but now...

"I doubt you're thinking what I'm thinking," Gendo said, noting the far-away look in Yui's eyes.

"You're probably right."

"There's one good thing to come out of this dinner, even if the food was overpriced."

"What's that?"

"You look great in this light."

For some reason, Yui blushed and looked down at the table, smiling shyly. "You're just saying that," she whispered.

"You know I'm not. Now who's pushing who away? You'll just have to accept the truth."

Yui's blush deepened. "Stop kidding around, Gendo."

"I'm not, and I'll tell you something else."

Lifting her head, Yui was almost afraid to meet Gendo's gaze.

"I'm really looking forward to moving in with you."