A/N: hfeiwoahf Hi. XD So, this is actually another old fanifc I never got up. I editedededed it a little for grammar and spelling issues and... Tada. XD This was supposed to be a one shot, but I didn't think it would pull off right that way... So now there should be about 3 chapters. XD Anyway, song for the day!

watch?v=ua830TJ1jxA

I blame Broby for getting me stuck with this song. But I said pick one for a video I'm making and... This was it. XD So yeah. Enjoy the new story, and I will SEE YOU soon. owo...

びぇびぇ～

Chapter 1

So much had changed in such a short amount of time. He no longer was the small, weak fourteen year old he once was. He was no longer a simple student in Banten middle school.

He was all grown up.

Rokujo Miharu, age twenty, was walking up the long case of stairs to his Okonomiyaki restaurant, the restaurant he inherited once he hit eighteen. His grandmother was still there, helping her young grandson run the place while also watching her young boy grow up into a responsible young man. It had been Miharu's dream to inherit the place, and now he did, yet things still seemed the same to him. As Miharu reached the top of the steps, grocery bags in each hand, he turned to look out over the mountain to Banten.

Not much had changed about Banten either; sure, there were some new homes and stores in the town and new plants and trees grew to cover the sweet town into a paradise, but to Miharu, it was still the same old town. The sun was setting over the sea, creating a red, yellow and orange fire that lit the whole sky and town up. The trees were slowly changing into their autumn hue, preparing for the cold winter that lay just ahead. The leaves slowly died, one by one, and fell to the ground, making the crisp and crunch sound whenever someone walked on them. It was days like this that made Miharu smile, it was days like this that Miharu loved.

It was days like this that made Miharu reflect on his life, on all of his memories, previous or future ideas, all of them relevant to the past he left behind. Miharu's smile turned into a frown and he bit down on his bottom lip.

'No...' He thought to no one but himself. No was right, the past was the past, he was in the future now, he dared not to think about his sin, or to think about him. Miharu turned his body around, putting a stern face on as he began heading to the front door of the Okonomiyaki shop; this was now, he couldn't think about the past.

Miharu breathed deeply before entering his shop and as he did, he smiled, happy to see his friends and previous teacher with his new wife all there.

"Hey Miharu…!" Reimai chimed. "We thought you'd never get here." She said. At her words, everyone looked to Miharu with smiles brightening their faces. They all greeted him kindly as the older boy walked in and set the groceries on the counter.

"Hey everyone," He said in his usual, calm tone.

"What took you so long, Miharu?" His white haired friend, Kouichi asked.

"Yeah, we've been waiting an hour~!" Reimai said. It became obvious to Miharu that Reimai was only there for his great quality Okonomiyaki and nothing more, but he was still happy to see her.

"Sorry, the stairs kill me these days." Miharu said with a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Tell me about it," Thobari joined in. "I feel like I need a wheel chair with a ramp to get up even the tiniest of stairs." He said, and his wife, Hana, laughed hardily.

"You think it's bad for you? I'm the oldest out of all of you, so I win." Hana somewhat gloated, but to point out even to herself that she just called herself old was a misfire on herself. Gau who was sitting across from her began laughing at her comment; at first he thought it was a joke, but when everyone else wasn't laughing, he quieted down and blushed ever so slightly. He turned his head away to hide his blushing cheeks, but everyone else could still see it, even Miharu who was across the room, preparing to cook for them.

Miharu began putting his old but still handy apron on and tied it around his waist. He grabbed his metal spatulas and walked over to the table all his friends sat at, and began mixing the batter. Reimai's eyes seemed to gleam with the upmost happiness at the sight of Miharu beginning to cook, and it made her clap her hands and wiggle in her chair in excitement. The twenty year old girl was so excited that Miharu momentarily looked up from his cooking towards her without moving his head, making it seem like he was mad at her. Even though he wasn't, Reimai had a very cold chill go up her back and quickly grabbed her cup of water to drink it. Miharu shook his head lightly with a smile and went back to his cooking; he had such good friends.

"So, what did you want to tell us by the way, Thobari sensei?" Kouichi asked while leaning back in his chair.

"Oh yeah, you said you had news for us, but you wanted to wait until Miharu got here." Gau added in. Miharu looked up to his teacher and noticed Thobari looking over to Hana san with a very sincere and sweet smile before Miharu noticed Hana nod her head very quaintly, like she was also hiding something. Thobari seemed oddly relieved to her nod and breathed in before letting out a content sigh.

"Well…" Thobari began. "Hana and I are expecting our first child." Thobari announced. Gau was so shocked that in the middle of trying to say something he choked on nothing but air and began coughing. Reimai and Kouichi began clapping their hands, throwing out appraisals and compliments to the new expecting parents. Miharu looked up from his cooking with a wide grin and patted his once sensei's shoulder.

"Congratulations Thobari sensei," Miharu said, though the old apathy he once held very close to in his heart made it seem as if he really couldn't care less. But his sensei heard it in his voice; Thobari knew all too well that Miharu was actually very thrilled for him; he just wasn't very good at showing it.

"Thanks, Rokujo," Thobari said, very understanding of Miharu's semi-apathetic nature.

"Ah yes, we're already starting to buy things for the baby too." Hana began saying in a whimsical manner. "Oh, Miharu, can I have some hakusai with my Okonomiyaki please?" Hana asked. The four others looked at Hana with odd stares, but she simply crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"Well, that would be the cravings." Thobari said with his voice cracking in both embarrassment and agitation. He had to live for nine months with her cravings, hormones and nauseous… He was a dead man.

"I am not craving, I'm just hungry." Hana huffed before her nose seemed to catch the scent of the food Miharu was preparing and she quickly looked down with greedy eyes.

"Anything for you and the baby, Hana," Miharu said graciously while he flipped the batter.

"Oh Miharu, you're such a sweetheart, every single one of you are." Hana said. As Miharu reached out to grab Hana's requested hakusai, Hana began to sniffle, and then cry. She wept uncontrollably as Thobari sat by her and held onto her, trying to comfort his pregnant wife.

"Hana san, what's wrong?" Reimai asked with her voice full of concern for her mother-like figure.

"Oh…" Hana began while wiping her eyes. "I-It's just, you're all such sweet children, but you aren't children anymore and… Sometimes when I think about that, I think about Yoite, because he'd be all grown up now too." Hana san used the hem of her long sleeve to wipe at her face, trying to stop the overflowing tears from staining her long and demure skirt or touch the large cooking table and create a small spout of steam.

Miharu's hands stopped cooking while he simply stared; so he wasn't the only one who thought about Yoite either. Now that he thought about it, Hana thought of Yoite as a son when he used to be around, so it would be normal that she'd miss him as much as she does. Thinking of this caused Miharu to put down his cooking utensils and pull his apron over his head, setting it down on the chair.

"Miharu…?" Kouichi questioned as his friend started walking away. "Where are you going?" He asked. Miharu stopped just before the doorway and turned around, a smile on his face.

"Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom." He said lightly and walked out of the room. The rest of them were left alone, waiting for Miharu to return; he had simply left his food cooking on the burner, and it really wasn't like him to do that. Thobari was well aware, however, of the smile Miharu had put on; it was one that Miharu used with lying to people; it was fake, and Thobari knew it all too well.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've upset everyone." Hana began bawling her eyes and everyone was quick to try and make her feel better.

"No, no Hana, you haven't made us upset, Miharu just had to go to the bathroom." Gau said while patting her back.

"Yeah Hana, he'll be back any second to finish your Okonomiyaki." Kouichi assured. Hana sniffled and rubbed her eyes before looking at the food left on the burner.

"It looks so yummy." Hana again began bawling just at the sight of the food. Miharu could hear this from the hallway as he walked towards the bathroom, trying desperately himself not to cry.

'I'm too old for this now…' He thought. 'There isn't a need to cry… I got my wish.' Miharu continued thinking deeply as he entered the bathroom and flipped the light on. He shut the bathroom door behind him, barely hearing the sounds of Hana's rather loud paroxysms now as he leaned against the door; un-falling tears that had been slowly gathering for six years started to burn the back of his eyes, but he held them in. He swallowed down a lump in his throat, restricting his breathing and hurting his dry and scratchy throat.

'No…' Miharu breathed in deeply and let it out in one heavy sigh. He looked to the side and saw his reflection in the mirrored; yes, he had truly grown within six years. He was taller, close to where Yoite used to be when they were together. His face had shaped out and no longer had the childish fix to it, although he could still pull off his cute face when the time was needed. His eyes were still the same; dead and apathetic, he noticed however that whenever he thought of Yoite, his eyes would have a gleam of happiness in them. Though their times had been rough, he found that he was happiest when he was with Yoite. Despite the war that had been going on, even while Yoite was dying and they were constantly running from enemies on all sides of them, he was happy, because he got to be with Yoite.

Miharu frowned; that was all in the past. Miharu ran his fingers through the fringe in his hair and continued looking over himself in the mirror. His hair had gotten longer, even after he had just cut it, but he never truly cared for his hair. If it hadn't been for his grandmother complaining about the length of his hair, he would have never cut it, he would have left it as is, but he was getting too old for complaining, so why should he fight with her?

"Miharu…!" Miharu stopped looking at himself and pressed his ear to the door, listening to his friends calling his name for him. "Um, the food, it's kind of starting to burn!" He heard Kouichi yelling out to him.

"One moment," Miharu yelled through the door. Miharu looked back to the mirror and tapped his cheek rather roughly, trying to clear his thoughts of Yoite. It was all over, in the past; he had gotten his wish. Miharu opened the bathroom door and placed a fake smile over the painfully thin line of a frown he normally had. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." Miharu said with a chuckle and walked into the room. He saw his friends at the table fanning at the food to keep it from burning while Hana started controlling her desperate fit of sadness. Genuinely, Miharu smiled as he walked to the table and picked his apron up. He put it on and took the spatulas in his hands to begin his cooking. His smiling face reassured his friends that everything was right.

But what they didn't know was that things were about to change very fast.