'Oi, wake up.'

'My... name is... not 'oi'.'

I didn't want to wake up yet. I was having a hard time opening my sleep-heavy eyes. With a yawn, I rolled over to sneak a peek at the owner of the voice, only slightly opening my eyes, an arm over my forehead.

Doumeki!

My eyes went wide, and Doumeki was pulling me close, his hands tightly holding my shirt. He was actually glaring at me?

'Why did you do that? Why did you go out last night, even though Yuuko told you not to?'

I wasn't prepared for a question like that, I had expected him to yell at me about slipping into his futon last night. I hoped that wouldn't come up later.

I swallowed, just staring at him for a moment, before he shook me.

'I... had to see you.'

'Why?'

'I couldn't stand you ignoring me.'

I tried to look away, my eyes filling with tears again, 'I need you, Doumeki. I..'

My words were cut short as a hand reached my cheek. For a moment, we just stared at each other without blinking, as if this were some sort of contest.

'You, what?'

Why was it so hard to say what I wanted to say? I had said it so easily to Haruka, but with his grandson next to me... in a bed... under the covers...

I hid my face behind my arms, and Doumeki was quick to pull them away.

'You're blushing,' he stated in his usual monotone.

'Stop it, let go,' I pleaded, trying to pull my arms away, but instead, he was pulling me back against him. He pulled me close enough that I could no longer use my arms to cover my face.

A hand reached the back of my head, gently smoothing my hair.

'Doumeki...'

My heart was beating so fast, and we were so close, it was as if we were sharing the same heartbeat. And this time, he was the one to kiss me.

My eyes widened. I hadn't even needed to say anything. He must have known already.

'Yuuko-san called you last night to tell you I was running out?' I asked after we broke away.

Doumeki nodded, 'Watanuki?'

'Yeah?'

'The test that I was helping the girl in my class study for was yesterday, so I can be with you at lunch again.'

I don't think I had ever heard him say that much at once, and I smiled.

'I'm glad.'


'Are you busy tonight?'

'What... Um.. I don't know.. I'll have to ask Yuuko-san. Why?'

'I want to take you out.'

I think I was blushing more, and all he did was run his hands through my hair as I nodded, 'Alright, let's go out then.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Yuuko-san! I don't want to wear that! And it's not like we are going anywhere fancy anyway!'

'But it looks so cute on you Watanuki-kun!' Yuuko said, still adjusting the obi on my waist. Stupid fancy kimono. A woman's kimono at that. I didn't want to wear it at all.

'I don't want to wear this! I am NOT a girl! Stop it! Get out, I am taking this ridiculous thing off. It's okay for you to wear this, but not me!'

I shooed Yuuko and the dancing and singing Maru and Moro out of the room. I don't know how she had gotten that on me to begin with. I was just getting out of the shower and all of a sudden... It was just there, and I didn't want to think about that...

I pulled the kimono off and threw it onto the bed, looking for something a bit more comfortable to wear. It seemed that all I really had was my school uniform and a few other things. I wondered if I should go to my apartment to look for something to wear.

What had Doumeki said earlier? Oh, that's right, it would be cold, so I should wear a jacket. When did he become my mother? Gah! Why did everyone have to be so frustrating!

Jeans, t-shirt, jacket. That was good enough for me. The next thing would be to wait for Doumeki to get here. Or was I supposed to go to his place? Oh my god! What if we were supposed to meet up? Had he told me where we were going? I didn't even remember! Maybe Yuuko knew!

I ran out of the room, still pulling on my shirt and yelling out for Yuuko.

'There's no reason to yell, I'm right here.'

And sure enough, she was standing right next to the door. She had been waiting for me. Evil woman...

'Did Doumeki say where he was meeting me? Did he say where we were going?' I asked in a panic, not stopping to take a breath until everything was out.

Said evil woman began to laugh before saying, 'Doumeki didn't tell me anything.'

But somehow I knew that she knew exactly what was going on. She always did.

Doumeki hadn't said anything to Yuuko? I didn't believe her for a second. He could have easily asked her not to say anything, and knowing Yuuko, she would leave out any details unless I was willing to pay for them. It would probably be best just to leave this as a surprise for now. Of course, I still didn't know if he was getting me or if I was meeting him.

I paced the hall a bit, trying to decide what to do, mentally counting all the wood panes in the floor.

One...two...three...

After what seemed like forever, I went to the front of the shop, just as Yuuko called for sake. I swore under my breath before going to find her an unopened bottle in her storeroom.

'That woman drinks way too much,' I said to myself as I pulled a dusty bottle off the self. All of them were pretty dusty. I wondered how long she collected these? And she drank so often, I wondered why some were even dusty at all.

Why now? Why was she asking me just before I could run out of the shop again? Was something going on? She had to know something. I almost forgot about the bottle, and I almost dropped it too.

My grip tightened as I walked out of the storeroom and down the hall to the room that Yuuko was launghing about in.

She took a long drag from her pipe, her eyes not leaving me.

'You know something, don't you?' I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

A smile reached her lips, but she said nothing.

I sighed, and quickly went to the kitchen to get her a glass before going back to the room she occupied.

I poured the alcohol; she still stared.

'What the hell are you staring at me for?'

She looked like she was ready to burst out laughing, and all it did was make me angry. I held the glass out for her, but when she reached for it, I drew back slightly so that she missed the glass by just a few inches.

'Give me the glass, you tyrant!' she complained.

'What are you hiding from me? Why were you staring? Why do you look like you are about to laugh?'

She stared at me for a moment before finally saying, 'There's a little black smudge on your cheek.'

She even licked a finger and went to clean it off.

'I know that's not it, Yuuko-san,' I replied, stepping back again.

She eyed me for a minute before taking the glass, this time before I could react. I sighed again, setting the bottle down on the floor near her.

'I'm going now,' I stated and turned around.

'I need snacks first. Karinto should be good.'

I stared at her for a moment. Why was she going to make me cook now when I was about to go out with Doumeki? She was stalling, I knew she was. Maybe she knew I was supposed to be waiting for Doumeki? Or was she just trying to make me late? Never can tell with that evil woman.

I walked to the kitchen, looking through the cabinets for the needed ingredients. I mentally ran a list through my head. I was going to be pissed if I had to go to the store now.

'Lets see... flour...baking powder...milk..salt..an egg...brown sugar... Good, all here.'

'We want to help!' Maru and Moro exclaimed, running into the kitchen, and Mokona bouncing onto my head.

My eyes narrowed, 'NO WAY! You will just get in the way! I don't have time for this!'

I don't know what I threw at Mokona, but he hopped out of the kitchen, complaining about how mean I was, as the two souless girls stared at me for a minute.

'What's wrong with everyone? Yuuko, and now you. Why are you staring?'

The girls didn't answer. All they did was turn to look at each other, giggle, and then leave the room. They were all acting so weird right now. Something was going on, and I was going to find out.

'Hurry up, Watanuki-kun, I'm hungry!' Yuuko yelled from the other room.

I growled, looking for vegetable oil and began making Yuuko's snack. Good thing it didn't take long to make. I hoped I wasn't making Doumeki wait.

I set everything up, and a few minutes later, I was still thinking about what sort of thing they were hiding for me.

It took me a few minutes to notice the pieces of dough were sticking together.

'Damn it!' I yelled, trying to separate them, and I could hear the girls giggling more in the hall. Were they trying to distract me? I wasn't going to let the snack burn!

Not long later I was bringing the snack to Yuuko, and I practically burned my hands on it too. Damn...

'I'm going NOW!' I yelled this time, turning to walk away, only to bump into something big.

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