AN: It's me again! 8'D Decided to do another fic in my free time, and yes this is another one of my favorite pairings in vanguard.

Do let me know if there's anything that can be improved, their characters for example because I think they might've gone OOC a little in this fic OTL Also, I will most likely keep this as a oneshot unless there's some kind of overwhelming demand for a second chapter, because I think this is pretty much complete already

Thanks once again!

- Air

"The school has accepted our club!"

That was what Aichi had announced in complete and utter excitement, dashing into the empty classroom that they used for club activities after school, immediately engaging Kourin's and Naoki's attention although the two were in the midst of a cardfight. The two had looked at him in disbelief for a moment.

"They're gonna give us an official room to hold our activities in, and stuff like that!" He had continued enthusiastically, not paying attention to the fact that he was rather out of breath at the moment.

"Hold up, it's official?" Kourin questioned, her eyes widening. She didn't think that it would be easy, appealing for the club to the school to get it approved, especially with the little members they had at the moment.

"Yep!" The blue haired boy smiled brightly, and then held out an envelope towards them. "Apparently they think that it might be good to have some new, unique activities other than the usual ones."

"Heeh!" Naoki had grinned in return and came across to grab the letter, Kourin following from behind. "The Student Council of Miyaji Academy has agreed to make the Cardfight Club an official club of the school, and has provided a new room for club activities to take place." He read out loud, his smile becoming bigger and bigger as he read on. "We're really going to have a new room?"

"Apparently so." Even Kourin had given a small smile. "But it says here that we'll need to gather our own needs for it, other than the basic furniture."

Naoki tilted his head to the side questioningly. "What else could we need for a clubroom other than the basic furniture?"

"Here." Kourin pointed. "Look, it says there's a small fridge included in the room, for the club member's comfort, we should probably stock that up in case."

"They have a fridge included inside the clubroom?" Aichi had asked in surprise, apparently he had only did a quick read of the letter until now. He looked up thoughtfully, "I knew Miyaji Academy was rich, but I didn't think that they would have such luxuries…"

"Anyway, when do you guys want to do shopping?" Kourin had asked, glancing at the two boys beside her.

"You think I could leave this to you two?" Naoki had sheepishly interrupted. "I made a teacher mad, and got myself into detention for the whole week."

And that was basically how Aichi had landed himself with Kourin at the supermarket. It wasn't that bad really, but sometimes he felt a little self-conscious around the obviously more confident girl. He felt uncomfortable whenever people stared at him, probably wondering who the little midget beside their idol was. It wasn't only that though, many people didn't know, but when Kourin was off stage, she in fact had a rather cold personality. Aichi didn't really want to offend that personality, so he usually tried to keep his words in check.

"Let's see, we need drinks, and some snacks." Kourin glanced at the shopping list she had. "Naoki wants coke, how about you, Aichi?"

"Uh ah, I think tea is fine by me." The boy replied, smiling a little as he watched Kourin dump various things inside the cart he was pushing.

"How about this?" He asked, trying to grab a bag of chips that had caught his eye from the upper shelf, although he was failing even on tiptoes. For once he wished that he was a little taller. "Ack."

"This?" Kourin asked, grabbing the bag easily from behind him, seeming not to notice the boy's lack of height. She mused for a moment as she looked at the label, "I honestly would prefer another brand, but if you like this then…"

"Thank you." Aichi gave a sheepish smile.

"Huh what?" The blonde girl looked up at him for a moment in confusion before realizing. "Oh it's fine…" she trailed off before continuing in a voice that was almost teasing, "eat more bean sprouts."

Aichi felt himself blush at the joke.

"So we have two bottles of this, and one of that right?" Kourin asked, ticking off things in her mental checklist.

They had finished buying everything, and the amount of things that they had with them, Aichi thought that it would probably last for a few months. By stocking up, Kourin certainly had meant it, the amount of things she bought compared to the things he bought… Sometimes Aichi couldn't understand girls.

"Wait, there's one more of that." Aichi pointed out, catching something that the blonde had missed.

"Oh yeah, right." Kourin blinked and checked that before sighing in relief. "Thanks Aichi, I think that's all of it, we should head back now."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see the new clubroom." The blue haired boy smiled, picking up two of the three bags.

"You sure you can handle that?" Kourin asked as she picked up the last bag.

"Yup." Aichi gave her a reassuring smile. It was okay to have people being concerned for him like this, it was really normal really, especially since he was pretty small sized for his age. Although sometimes he wished that people would just trust that he was a little stronger then he actually looked, it felt a little demoralizing to be treated like a girl the whole time.

"So why did you come to Miyaji Academy anyway?" Aichi asked after they had walked for a while in total silence, with Kourin walking a small distance in front of him.

"I don't know, Takuto said something about wanting us to experience a normal life, or something along those lines." Kourin replied, looking up at the sky that had turned a fiery orange.

"So… Do you like this normal life?" The younger boy asked curiously.

There was a moment as Kourin stopped walking and stayed silent. Aichi stopped as well, keeping his eyes on her. After he finally thought that she wouldn't respond, the blonde girl turned around to look at him, searching his face for something he couldn't tell what. The shadows of people walking across the same bridge they were on cast over their faces slowly, and the blonde girl further up ahead eventually sighed.

"I don't know if I could actually get used to it." She admitted, looking away from his face. "Back there, I had Rekka and Suiko, but here, it's kind of lonely… After all, you have your own friends too."

"That's wrong!" Aichi protested. "You're a friend too…"

"Aren't you just saying that because of the club?" Kourin asked, although she knew very well that Aichi wasn't capable of these sort of things. It was just something inside her that made it come out, perhaps the bitterness of not being able to adapt to this life, the loneliness of having to put on a false front all the time.

"Because you're my dear companion."

"E-eh? Uh-um…" For a moment, it seemed as though time had stopped, and the blonde's heart did a small flip. She felt the heat rise up to her cheeks, and looked down for a moment. "Th-Thanks…"

This time, it was Aichi's turn to realize what he had just said. The younger boy started, eyes widening and cheeks flushing. "Huh? Ah, uh." He stammered, and then averted his eyes from Kourin, looking left and right.

The blonde girl suddenly dropped her bag on the ground and moved forward, startling the boy into stepping back as she quickly approached Aichi and harshly pressed her hand unto the other's forehead despite his protests.

"Eh? Wha-!" Aichi stuttered as he managed to push the girl away before exclaiming, "what're you doing!"

"I thought you might have a fever or something, because you're saying very weird things suddenly!" Kourin retorted hurriedly, stepping back and staring at the blue haired boy in front of her.

"N-not really…" Aichi defended, trying to keep his cool.

"I'm not being grateful to you or anything okay?" The blonde suddenly said again after a moment, standing up straight with folded arms and eyes closed, "I'm just being polite."

"Okay, I guess…" The blue haired boy replied, laughing a little at the other's typical behaviour.

Kourin opened one eye to see the other's gentle smile and felt herself blush harder. Frowning at her body's unwanted behaviour, she turned back towards him. "W-what are you doing! Let's get going already!" She huffed and picked up her own bag.

"Alright, Kourin-san." Aichi chuckled and started walking up ahead.

Watching his back, and recalling his words earlier, Kourin felt her heart do another leap. Although he was sometimes easily influenced and vulnerable, this guy was someone whom she looked up to for his care towards his friends. Even if he sees her as a dear companion now, perhaps, one day…

Thank you, Aichi.