So this came out MUCH later than expected but better late than never xD

No smutt in this but I found it would just ruin it so maybe next time xP

I take requests so please, feel free to suggest any type of story with this pairing

Oh, and before I let you start reading, this is basically a follow up of Just A Nightmare so maybe you'll want to read that one before this one, not that it's necessary but there is one (or two) references xP

ENJOY!

Three months after Mikoto's troubling nightmares and his confession, he began dating Tatara however, it never seemed as so. Mikoto and Tatara always kept the same kind of attitude around each other in which they simply acted like friends. All the members of HOMURA were rather surprised that they managed to keep their bond as such and guessed that it should have been deepened, but at least there was no awkwardness. Nonetheless, from time to time the two would engage in couple-like behaviour when Mikoto would quickly steal a kiss before leaving for a fight or when Tatara would kiss Mikoto's cheek upon his return. Those brief moments of expressed affection where what reminded the members of HOMURA that the two were actually an item.

Nevertheless, it was on the dawn of the middle of the month that Mikoto openly began expressing his true worries about the relationship to Izumo.

"Am I 'boyfriend' material?" Mikoto suddenly asked.

"E-eh? Where did that come from?" Izumo asked with an awkward laugh as he cleaned the bar counter.

"Well, you're a bartender, aren't you supposed to help your customers and give them advice?" Mikoto asked sipping on his drink.

There was a brief moment of silence as Izumo began to understand what Mikoto was directly asking him without being so direct. "You know, Mikoto," Izumo smirked leaning on the counter, "If you want a friend's advice, all you have to do is say it."

Mikoto glared at the man but did nothing. He put his drink down and sighed deeply, "Help me."

Izumo smiled widely, "Wow, this is probably the first time you ask me to do something friend-like." He stated, evidently proud. "Now what do you want help with."

"I already asked my question." The Red King stated sipping his beverage again.

"Well I'm assuming that you're not really aiming to know whether you're boyfriend material or not." Izumo guessed. "That being said, I'm assuming you want help with Tatara."

Mikoto nodded shortly.

"Right," Izumo paused a little to think. "What exactly don't you like about your relationship? You both seemed to be doing fine..."

"I'm wondering if Tatara wants someone better to him." Mikoto admitted, "I'm not too sure how to deal with Tatara now that we're..."

"Together?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, Mikoto," Izumo began, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not too sure how homosexual relationships work so I don't know if I can help you there but-"

The rolling of a red bead across the table interrupted Izumo and both he and Mikoto's gazes were drawn to the petit girl who had sent it in order to grasp their attention. She calmly waited for the crimson ball to return and then looked at Mikoto, "He wants you to take him out on a date." Anna said bluntly.

"A date?" Izumo repeated. "What kind of date?"

"He said an amusement park would be fun." She replied. "But he also said he wanted to go out for dinner soon and wanted to ask Mikoto for the longest time."

"Why hasn't he?" Izumo asked curiously.

"Because Mikoto always seemed busy. Tatara doesn't want to bother him."

There was a moment of silence in which Mikoto considered what he was told. He wasn't the greatest person in the world nor was he trying to be, but he would at least try to be worthy of Tatara whom he loved dearly. If a date was going to help him reach his goal, then he would do so.

"So…perhaps I should take him out to dinner…" Mikoto concluded quietly. He wasn't aware that a faint blush had taken over his cheeks.

"That would be a good idea." The bartender agreed with a soft smile.

Thus, it was with that conclusion that Mikoto began looking for a nice restaurant for his soon to be date with Tatara. He quickly made reservations and when all was set, he returned to the bar area where Izumo began to question him anew while Anna drank a carton of milk soundlessly.

"Are you done already?" Izumo asked, surprised by the short amount of time it had taken Mikoto to accomplish the task.

"Yea." Mikoto answered briefly as he took his usual seat.

"Where are you going to take him…?" Izumo asked slowly, expecting a rundown place filled with thugs.

"Kōkyūna Resutoran.*" Mikoto answered briefly again.

Izumo's jaw dropped, "You're taking him to the fanciest restaurant in all of Japan!" He practically squeaked. "And dressed like that!"

"Yeah," Mikoto shrugged, "What's it to you?"

Izumo quickly took off his apron and walked around the counter, grabbing Mikoto, "You're insane if you think they'll let you in dressed the way you are." He began to drag him away and at that point Anna jumped off her stool to chase after them. "Come on, we're going shopping."

Unable to escape Izumo's will, Mikoto was forced into a few rapid hours of shopping for clean clothes before finding something he thought was comfortable and looked proper enough for the high class eating place. Hence, the task was done and they all returned to the HOMURA bar where Tatara waited for them, asleep on the couch.

"Oh. There he is." Mikoto stated as he began walking towards him.

"Wait! Mikoto! Don't just—"

Contrary to what Izumo thought he was going to do, Mikoto sat on the couch across of Tatara where Anna quickly joined him and simply waited for Tatara to awake. The bartender huffed and smiled softly to himself before returning behind the counter to resume his job. It was as so that Mikoto waited for his lover to awake, but by the time it happened, the former had already fallen asleep with Anna.

"Haha." Tatara laughed quietly. "Mikoto is so handsome when sleeping—oh?"

Tatara suddenly noticed Mikoto's new change in wardrobe. The latter was wearing a white dress shirt with the upper buttons detached thus revealing just a bit of his scared chest and black dress pants. The ensemble was rather simple but gave the Red King a whole new allure.

"Why is he dressed like that?" Tatara asked turning around to face Izumo.

The bartender smiled and gestured with his chin Mikoto, "Why don't you wake him up and ask him."

Thus, Tatara turned his attention back on Mikoto and gently shook him awake. The latter's eyes fluttered open and widened slightly at the sight of his lover. "Tatara—"

"Why are you dressed like that?" Tatara interrupted, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Mikoto's cheeks blushed considerably. "I-I have something to ask you…" he stuttered nervously. He paused and doing so caused Izumo to stop tending the bar and simply pay attention to the quiet couple to observe the outcome. "I made reservations to a restaurant."

"That's not a question." Tatara laughed absent mindedly; clearly he wasn't aware of where Mikoto was going.

Mikoto's face reddened even more but pretended to be perfectly calm – something that wasn't necessarily working at the moment. "I meant…would you like to go out…?" the question was followed by silence that quickly rendered Mikoto even more nervous than he already was. "t-to the restaurant…?"

Tatara now began to blush just as much as Mikoto "Is that why you're dressed like that?"

"That and Izumo forced me to shop for it." The Red King admitted truthfully.

"Oh god damn it!" Izumo cursed from the bar, "Stop changing the subject and get going on your date!"

The two lovers exchanged looks before their attention was brought to Anna who had jumped off the couch and was encouraging Mikoto to stand. "Would you like to…?" Mikoto asked again.

There was more silence but this time Tatara smiled and answered before Mikoto could say something else out of nervousness. "Give me a minute to get changed."

And when that minute passed, Tatara returned, dressed as well as Mikoto but also with a camera in hand. He was filming everything he was seeing, going from Anna to Mikoto to Izumo then to himself.

"What…are you doing?" Izumo asked as the camera was focused on him.

"I'm going to film my first date." Tatara replied happily with a grin.

"You mean you're first date with Mikoto?" the bartender specified.

"No, my first, general date." The former corrected, "I've never been on a date before." He lowered his camera slightly and smiled softly at Mikoto, "I'm glad my first was with you."

The Red King only blushed some more and turned away from Tatara's loving gaze to lead the way out of the bar. "Take care of Anna!" Tatara said before leaving with Mikoto.

As the door closed, Tatara became something very close to a talking machine. He was recording everything he was seeing, most of it being Mikoto as they walked to the reserved restaurant. That whole walk, the HOMURA leader might have said one or two words to answer some of Tatara's brief questions but still enjoyed himself. He never really was a talkative guy.

When they finally arrived to the Kōkyūna Resutoran, they were seated immediately and Mikoto simply told Tatara to order anything he liked. By the end of that dinner, Mikoto understood why some men practically cried when they treated their lover to anything. Nonetheless, they had had a pleasant evening and were now walking through a park quietly. At that point, Tatara had quieted down but was still filming everything and nothing as was his habit when he had a camera in hand.

"This was fun." Tatara stated after some time, he smiled again to Mikoto, "Thank you for taking me out."

Just as Mikoto was about to reply, a man in a thick trench coat bumped by and attempted stealing the Red King's money but failed in stealth. "hey!" Mikoto shouted at the man who began running away. Quickly, the HOMURA leader turned to his lover, "Wait here," before running after the thief.

Tatara watched as Mikoto disappeared into the darkness, but obediently stayed put until the sight of the city at night caught his attention, thus causing him to move away. He climbed on the railing and filmed the city just a little before the crazy cackle of another man nearby caught his attention. Keeping the camera to his face as to record everything he was seeing, Tatara moved closer and began introducing himself.

"The city at night is pretty, isn't it?" he asked softly. The man continued to laugh and showed no displeasure in the conversation so Tatara deemed it safe to continue moving closer. "My name is Totsuka Tatara, what's yours?"

The stranger abruptly stopped laughing and glared at Tatara with a strange violence and hunger. From his sleeve he pulled out a knife and raised it high above his head to strike Tatara but just as he was about to do so, Mikoto returned in time to take the blow. The knife dug deep into the Red King's shoulder, lodging itself there, and the man, seeing that he couldn't take his weapon back, suddenly ran off in a direction.

Glowing red, Mikoto summoned his powers and threw a blast of fire immediately in the assailant's direction, reducing him to ashes. There was a moment of silence following the death of the stranger in which the Red King tried regaining his breath but failed miserably.

Tatara, worried by the long moment of silence and the blood lodged into the other's shoulder, decided it would be he to break the silence. He stretched out his hand to gently graze Mikoto's arm but before he could do such a thing, the latter enveloped Tatara in a suffocating embrace.

"Oh my god…" Mikoto breathed, his voice shaking terribly just like his body. "…Are you hurt?"

Tatara remained quiet for a moment, shocked that he was asked such a question while the other still had a knife stabbed in his shoulder. "Yes—"

Mikoto quickly grabbed Tatara's face and pressed their lips together. "Good. You scared me." He declared. "I thought my nightmare was becoming reality…"

"Oh…" Tatara breathed remembering what had happened three months ago. He pressed their lips together again but this time the contact lasted longer. "I'm sorry I made you worry." There was another silence in which a tender gaze was exchanged. "Hey. Let's go home."

"Sure." The Red King smiled and pulled out the knife which he threw on the ground.

Tatara took Mikoto's hand and the two began walking back home, silently this time, and enjoyed each other's presence in a certain lover's intimacy only they could understand.

*It literally means: fancy restaurant. 100 points of creativity right there.

So, I dunno, I really wanted to write the last scene because that's all I ever really saw in my head when I considered writing this xP

I'm not too sure about my skills since there are such big time lapses to when I wrote certain parts, but I want to know if you enjoyed this :)

So please, review, have a beer (even if you're underaged) and check out up to episode 11 of K Project if you haven't already! This show's getting really interesting!

SEE YOU (maybe) IN ANOTHER STORY!