"So you came crying to me, just like Nobita-kun," Yuuko said, the last part in almost a whispered and faded into laugher.

"I AM NOT CRYING!" I yelled back at her, waving my arms around, "and I didn't cry earlier either!"

"Oh no? Really, you should apologize to Doumeki-kun."

"I don't even know what I did, how am I supposed to apologize if I don't even know what is wrong?"

"Well, then maybe you should just ask him," she said. Her pointer finger started poking my cheek as she continued, "My, my, Watanuki-kun is a stubborn boy!"

"Stubborn boy!" Maru and Moro echoed.

I glared at the girls for a moment, and then with a sigh, went off to do my chores. Yuuko's dinner request followed me down the hall, along with an order of sake.

"You're going to have liver problems!" my voice echoed back down the hall.

"Is Watanuki-kun worried?"

"NO!"

I stomped into the kitchen, starting dinner. All the ridiculous things that Yuuko had asked me to make. Most of the items that she had listed for me to make were things that I had not made before, so I ended up looking for a recipe for them.

Luckily, Yuuko did own cook books.

But even with that small amount of help, the food took forever, and then Yuuko had more for me to do. I was all over the house that evening; scrubbing floors, dusting her treasure room, watering plants (I didn't even realise before today that she had a tiny garden, and it didn't really seem to be new or anything). I washed walls, re-painted one of the rooms, and replaced paper doors (why did they even need replacing?).

By the time I was done, it was after midnight, and I was completely exhausted.

With a sigh, I fell back onto my bed.

Mugetsu was snuggled up against the stuffed panda that lay atop one of my pillows. The stuffed panda that was supposed to cheer me up, but for some reason, it hadn't been working at all.

But wait...Yuuko NEVER gave gifts without some sort of payment, and I had not payed her for it, or had she just added that to the long list of other things that I owed her for? She hadn't said anything about it at all.

Then something caught my eye. The stuffed animal's tag, just below where Mugetsu's tiny head rested.

I gently lifted the toy, hoping not to wake the pipe fox that seemed to be sleeping so peacefully. He really was very cute.

I smiled at the pipe fox, and then looked at the tag, my eyes widened.

Written on the tag in kanji was 'Dou-me-ki'.

It was at that point that I realised, maybe I really was crazy.

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I awoke the next morning, the sun on my face, feeling the most pleasent I have felt in weeks.

Mugetsu was snuggled under my chin, his soft fur rubbing against my neck.

"Good morning," I said to the pipe fox, lightly patting him on the head. I still had the stuffed panda bear held to my chest, just above my heart. The bear that was really from Doumeki, and not from Yuuko.

From Doumeki. And I liked that. That was just... weird.

"Watanuki-kun! Mistress wants pancakes!"

I practically fell out of the bed when the two girls appeared. Mugetsu jumped back, making a startled sound. Poor thing.

I jumped out of bed and got dressed, after shooing the girls out of the room and scolding them for waking me up like that. I wasn't about to tell them that I had already been awake.

Once I was dressed, I gave the stuffed panda bear one last hug before I left the room.

Flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, butter, salt. What else would Yuuko like with her pancakes? Maybe some bacon..tea.. And she'd probably ask for alcohol, but there was no way in hell I was giving her alcohol this early in the morning.

I measured out the ingredients mixing the required ones in seperate bowls, before combining them and stirring them together.

Stove on, bacon being made on one side, the pancakes on the other. I added chocolate chips to the pancakes and shaped them into little bears. I was practically dancing about the kitchen, light as air, happy.

"My, it seems that Watanuki-kun's energy has returned. You came crying to me last night, like Nobita-kun, and now you look like a child that was just given a giant lollipop."

"I was NOT crying!" I yelled back at her, "And just so you know, I am in a good mood this morning, and you should be thanking me for these wonderful pancakes!"

I was serving her only moments later, one bite and she was asking me if I could make anything that was bad, completely in love with the breakfast before her.

I sighed, and glanced over at the clock.

"Damn! I'm gonna be late for school!" I exclaimed, running to the other room to get my bag and to the entrance to get my shoes.

"NO THANKS FOR SAYING GOODBYE!" trailed a voice behind me as I ran out the door, through the gate and down the street toward Cross Private High School.

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"Watanuki-kun is full of energy today!" Himawari exclaimed as I handed her one of the bento boxes I had made the night before.

I was feeling a lot better today, even if I hadn't had a chance to talk to Doumeki yet, but I knew I would soon.

We sat in our classroom, and it was just after a session with my teacher. She said my grades were starting to go back up again, and she wondered how much longer I would need to stay in here for lunch. That was good, yet another thing to add to the things that made me happy today.

Someone walked by the door, and I looked up from where I sat. I stood up and walked across the room, seeing Doumeki walking away. I ran back to the desk and picked up the third bento box. I had been making one for him every day, even though I hadn't been eating with him.

Then I ran back to the hall and followed him

"Dou-me-ki!" I called out.

He stopped. Not again, not again, not again. I froze once more as he turned around, the time between my heart beats decreased, yet it felt like the moment dragged on for eternity.

"I... I brought you lunch," I finally stuttered.

He must be busy, and I didn't want to be a nuisance or anything, so when he took the box and gave me a smile, I ended up blushing and running back to the classroom.

"Watanuki-kun? Something wrong?" Himawari asked.

"No, not at all," I replied, still panting a bit from the short run.

"You're blushing!" she commented, a bright smile on her face.

Why did people have to notice these things?

"It's nothing, Himawari-chan, really!"

I returned the smile and sat down by her, picking up my chopsticks and eating again. The bento box that I had given to Doumeki, belonged to Yuuko. I would have to get it back at some point, which meant... I'd have to talk to Doumeki later. Was I ready to talk to him yet?

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