"She looks pretty broken up."

Gendo nodded, finishing off a little cup of water.

"It must be hard."

Gendo finally looked at the woman, crushing the cup in his hand. There was something about her tone that he didn't like at all. "That's life. Life is hard," he answered stiffly.

She smiled at that and spared a glance back at Yui. "It's always nice to have someone to turn to in the middle of the night. Don't you think?"

Looking at Yui, vaguely hearing the woman speak, Gendo nodded. The touch of her hand on his own turned his attention to her though. "And is there a point to your rambling?" he asked, looking at her with a cold gaze, completely opposite of what he had been directing at Yui.

"Oh... nothing. If you ever..." Her voice lowered so it could only by heard by the two of them. "Get tired of the school girl..." The invitation was left unspoken.

"Don't touch me, don't look at me, don't look at Yui, and don't talk about her." Gendo's hand clamped down on the wrist of his "co-worker" and pulled her hand off him. He gave her one last withering look before grabbing the tea he had prepared and returned to Yui with it.

"What was wrong?" Yui asked, taking a glass of tea.

"Nothing," Gendo answered tersely, his forehead creased.

"Don't lie. What was that about?"

Resisting the urge to look back at the woman, Gendo shook his head. "She thought I would find her more appealing than you."

In a small voice, Yui said, "Oh," and sipped her tea.

"We're going to get married in less than two weeks, Yui. If someone tried to change my mind about that, they'd find that they were far too late." He set his tea down, then put his hands over hers, warming them. "Don't think I would be swayed so easily."

Yui nodded, but stared at the steam rising from her glass. "I know, but..."

"You know, but you're not sure. It's fine, Yui." Gendo smiled, trying to get her to look at him. "I felt that way before too, you know. I know what it's like."

"I... I don't think I should come back here. I don't know if I can do the work. It's all too much..."

"No, it's not too much. I just want you to take it easy. Once the time actually rolls around, you'll feel better. It'll be one less thing to worry about. And when the semester is over, it'll be one less thing to worry about. See how it works?"

"It still doesn't make me feel any better."

There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," he said without looking up.

"Professor..."

He looked up in surprise. "Yui, I wasn't expecting you."

"I know. If this is a bad time, I can go."

"No, no." He stood, looking flustered. "Come in, sit down. I was just in the middle of some paperwork." He watched her as she shut the office door and sat in the chair in front of his desk. The distress on her face was clear. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered at first, then her hands tightened on her bag and she looked down. "Everything. I... I really wish you had moved with us. It's not the same without you."

Hope soared irrationally in his heart, but he restrained it. "I'm sorry, Yui. It just wasn't right any longer. Not for me, but you... You still have a lot to do, a long way to go."

Yui nodded, but stayed quiet.

"I... was very sorry to hear about your mother," Fuyutsuki said awkwardly.

Again she nodded. "The flowers were very nice."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it."

"Don't apologize. It wasn't pleasant and I'm glad you didn't see me like that." She lifted her head and looked right at him with reddened eyes. "Professor, will you please be at the wedding? Please..."

Heart sinking, Kozo looked at Yui's grief-stricken face. "Of course I will be," he said quietly, feeling utterly crushed.