"It's futile." Said Claude. The boy who claimed to be Ojou-sama's boyfriend was weak. So weak. He had dared to mislead his trusted assistant Tsugumi to help him break Ojou-sama out. When he tried to stop him at the door, that ty brat of the Shuhei group had dared to challenge him. But it's all just a futile effort. He easily whooped that little brat's without breaking a sweat. That brat kept standing up again and again while he just beat him down easily again and again. At last, the ty brat fell unconscious after punching him the 65th time in his face. He looked at the slump and smirked.

* A month later*

Raku Ichijou sat on his desk with a resigned look on his face. The sensei, or Yui-nee, was standing in front of the class and teaching about simultaneous equations. Raku stared into space while thinking events about the last month. Chitoge had planned to live with the Shuhei group to prevent from leaving Japan. But the plan was uncovered by Claude and had prevented it from undergoing. He had locked Chitoge in a room and prevented anyone from seeing her. Raku had tried to rescue her, but Claude stood in the way. He had foolishly challenged the man and, of course, lost. What chances did he have against a upper brass of a gang organization as a student? It's not that he didn't think of using his group members to save her, but the Shuhei group had been in conflict with the Beehive group for a while now. Using the members of Shuhei group for his own cause might only cause an all-out war, which he of course wanted to prevent from happening.

He sighed and stared out of the window. He had been aware that he has been feeling severly depressed over this, although he was unsure why. Didn't he hate her? Didn't he wanted to get out of being her fake boyfriend for the sake of the city's safety? Although…..ever since Shuu, his best male friend , had asked him that question, he had been pondering about it. Yes… best friend. That's what it's all about. He convinced himself that she was his best friend. The time they spent together must have caused this to happen. A best friend, that what it is.

He sighed again and rubbed his temples. Who was he kidding? The heartache that happened frequently had plainly stated the truth. He loved Chitoge, her soft gentle lips, her golden hair,her stubborn persistent attidude. He loved every bit of her. It was only after Chitoge left that the realization hit him hard. He had been powerless to stop the move. He had been beaten unconscious and was brought back home secretly to recover by his father's trusted subordinates. His father must have understood his situation and kept the events a top secret, as Ryuu and others did not know about his wounds. The next week, the whole Beehive group, including Chitoge and Tsugumi, had left for America silently. The mansion which they resided in had been sold off to some millionaire and was planned to be pulled down for a golf course. It was like they completely disappeared from the face of Earth.

After a week, Raku's body recovered, but his heart has not. He put on a mask brought his broken heart to school . Onodera and the others had been worried by his absence from school, but he managed to convince them he was out of town . He may have fooled Kosaki and the others, but Shuu had been able to see through his plastic smile.

Shuu understood his situation and tried to comfort Raku, as they had did a while ago. But Raku had shrugged him away and said he was okay. Shuu , worried, tried to think of a way to cheer his dear friend up and thought of Marika. Although Raku had denied it, he knew that Raku was heartbroken at the departure of Chitoge. Maybe… just maybe… if someone was capable to mend his heart, Marika just may be suitable to take that empty place.

Marika Tachibana should be happy that Chitoge, her love rival, was gone. Although she put on a face of not giving a , she still missed that wild girl. Despite all the quarrelling, that blond had been a good friend to her. Her leaving had made a deep impact in all of them, particularly Raku, although she doubted it. Raku had expressed neutrality of Chitoge's move, although she could see that deep down he was severely depressed. She, with a tinge of jealousy understood him as she had felt the same when Raku had not been able to recall her even when she expressed her love to him. To be rejected, forgotten or unable to express the love to the person you like is the same pain that is felt by any person.

She then made a plan to cheer her Raku-sama up. Although unsure why, Shuu had came up to her during lunch break and gave her a paper containing information about Raku-sama's likes and dislikes . Marika was confused by his actions, but despite it she was able to gain new knowledge about the man she loved. Although she punched Shuu into the wall a while ago, she thanked him in a soft tone. The human that was etched onto the wall gave his usual face with a w mouth and a thumbs-up. This plan would prove to be the expression of understanding of his sufferings . If possible, even it's a 0.01 percent of chance that she could charm Raku-sama with her plan, he would….. Marika giggled and proceeded to Raku's desk.

Raku had been eating his lunch alone since that faithful day. He sighed and stared outside the window. It was spring and the weather was good. A plane flew over their school and Raku stared at it, with hope that Chitoge would come back. Of course, it was all just a false hope. He sighed again and bit into his plum filled rice balls. The sour-sweet taste can be used to describe his heart when Marika suddenly sat in front of him with a smile on his face. This girl had claimed to be his fiancé the a few months ago. Had she not revealed her accent during their first 'date', she would never have struck to him as Marie, a girl who he played with in her ward when she was young.

He quickly swallowed the rice ball and said "Yo, Marika. Need anything?'. Marika smiled and said with puppy dog eyes 'Raku-sama, do you have any plans today?'. Raku sighed and thought about it. Ever since Chitoge left, he had been free practically everyday. He looked at Marika with a straight face and said 'Nope, don't think so. Why?'

Marika, with a happy face, asked "Well then, Raku- sama, wanna come over to my house?".

A/N: well here's chapter 1. Would appreciate if anyone gave help on Japanese honorifics (-sama,-kun,-sensei…..etc). Please leave a review and stay tuned for more updates! :p