Chapter 2

Natsuno awoke that morning to the seemingly unfamiliar sound of rain on his bedroom window. He sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.

"Natsuno?"

His mother was calling him, did he sleep in?

"Yeah?"

He called back to her, sliding out of bed and looking for some clothes to wear.

"Did you remember that you were supposed to be visiting the Mutou's today?"

Natsuno stopped in his tracks, of course he remembered... He was supposed to be visiting Tohru to help him out with a school project; sure Tohru was older than him but it didn't mean he was smarter.

"..Natsuno?"

"Uh, yeah I'm getting ready to leave now!"

Natsuno grabbed a shirt and some trousers and sighed. He'd get soaked if he went outside in the rain, but he didn't have a coat. It might sound irresponsible, but his father had pretty much convinced him that the sun was always shining during the day in Sotoba. Hopefully he'd be able to find an umbrella somewhere in the house.

He got dressed and made his way into the hall,

"Hey mom, do we have any umbrellas?"

His mother emerged from the kitchen, obviously busy as she made her way towards his father's workshop.

"No, I don't think we do, your father took the only one we have when he left, I'm rather busy here Natsuno..."

Natsuno got the message, he'd just have to go without, after-all work comes first in this household.

"I'm heading out now mom!"

Natsuno made his way outside of his home, he couldn't find an umbrella since his father had taken the only one to visit the local corner store – typical. He'd grabbed an old school bag that he didn't use any more and held it over his head as he made his way towards Tohru's house, sure it might look dumb but at least it was keeping the rain off slightly, right?

His thoughts seemed to wander back to the events of yesterday as he ran through the quiet streets, why did Tohru get so mad at him? Was it because of not supporting him asking Ritsuko out on a date? Natsuno sighed in frustration as the rain picked up in pace, surely that couldn't be all could it? Whatever it was, Natsuno didn't want to risk losing Tohru as a friend.

Natsuno was rather grateful that the Mutou's had a porch, at least he could shelter from the rain whilst he waited for someone to answer the door. He knocked on the door and waited patiently, examining the old bag that he was carrying slightly. He didn't have any time to eat this morning so he'd just grabbed a sandwich that his mother had been making, he hasn't asked her if he could take it, but he was hungry so it'd have to be okay whether it was convenient or not.

After a short wait the door was opened by Aoi, Tohru's younger sister. She was carefree like him and greeted Natsuno with a cheery smile,

"Hey Natsuno! Tohru said you were coming over, you didn't get too wet did you?"

She stepped back to welcome him inside,Natsuno entered and shook his head slightly,

"Not too much..."

He appreciated how welcoming the Mutou's were towards him, but he still didn't really like talking to them unless he had to. Tamotsu raised his hand slightly in a brief welcome as he walked past him, Natsuno nodded quietly.

"...Tohru's up in his room right?"

Aoi closed the door and glanced outside the window at the rain,

"Hm? Oh yeah! As always."

She chuckled quietly and motioned towards the stairs,

"You can head up if you'd like"

Natsuno didn't need any more of an invitation than that, he took his shoes off and made his way up the staircase quietly, what would he say to Tohru? Surely it would be a bit of an awkward atmosphere after yesterday...

He arrived at Tohru's room but took a moment to think over how to start a conversation with him, should he apologise or something? Natsuno wasn't used to having friends so it's not like he knew how to deal with an argument whether it was over something petty or serious either way.

He sighed before pushing open the door,

"Tohru-chan?"

It was a sight that he expected; Tohru laid of the floor of his room, video game controller in hand and eyes glued to the TV screen. Tohru glanced back at him and smiled as if nothing had happened.

Natsuno couldn't help but find that strange.

"Uh-"

Tohru paused his video game and sat up, stretching his arms above his head,

"You don't need to say it Natsuno"

Natsuno sat down next to him on the floor, he stayed quiet and watched as Tohru crawled over to a drawer and rummaged around for something,

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I was totally out of line.."

Natsuno wasn't really sure how to react, shouldn't he be the one apologising?

"It's... okay I guess, I'm sorry to"

"I thought I told you it was okay?"

Tohru turned back to face him and smiled,

"Really it's fine."

He ruffled Natsuno's hair playfully and went back to searching for whatever it was that he was looking for. Natsuno would usually protest or grumble and fix his hair when someone did that to him he hated it, but something was different about Tohru... he actually liked it when he did things like that. Maybe he'd been subject to it for so long that he was just getting used to it? Or maybe-

"Ah-ha!"

Natsuno was snapped out of his thoughts as Tohru pulled a video game cartridge and seemed to strike a heroic pose for finding it.

"I wanted to show you this!"

Tohru seemed so excited,

"It's finally a game we can play together!"
Natsuno smiled just a tiny bit,

"Okay..."

Was it bad to find it kind of cute when Tohru was like this? He was like a child when he was excited, so bouncy and happy...

Tohru swapped the cartridges over in the console and plugged in a second controller before handing it to Natsuno.

"Do you know how to play?"

Natsuno thought for a second, he'd only ever really watched Tohru play video games, he couldn't really play them himself... he'd usually just read a book or study.

"Uh..."

He glanced down at the controller, he didn't even know what any of the buttons meant... it looked like a mess of colourful circles and weird shapes to him. Tohru could tell he was struggling already,

"It's okay, I'll teach you what they mean"

Tohru chuckled, it seemed kind of strange having to teach someone how to play a video game that was so simple & easy to play, all you had to do was hold down one button to go & use the directions to steer. He leaned forward and reset the console.

"Okay, so you press this button here.."

Natsuno watched as Tohru pointed at several buttons and explained what they did in this game. It did seem rather simple now that he'd explained it, sounded pretty fun too.

"Oh no, again?"

Tohru stared at the screen in disbelief as Natsuno won another round of the game they were playing.

"How the heck did you get so good so quick?"

Natsuno couldn't help but feel proud of himself, he'd never played a video game properly before yet he was beating someone who would lay around playing them all day.

"I guess I'm just naturally good at stuff, unlike you"

It took a while for Tohru to realise that Natsuno was poking fun at him but when he realised he immediately grabbed him and put him in a playful headlock.

"Oi!"

Natsuno was slightly surprised but chuckled none the less, he tried to break free from Tohru's grip but couldn't quite manage it.

"Say that again!"

Tohru laughed and gave Natsuno a noogie, deliberately messing up his hair.

Natsuno grabbed Tohru's arm, still trying to break his grip,

"Okay, Okay I'm sorry!"

For the first time in a while, Natsuno felt that he was enjoying himself. No matter how uncomfortable the headlock was, he was enjoying playing video games & relaxing rather than studying like he usually would. It felt like Tohru was the only one that he could really let himself go around and he was loving every minute of it.

Tohru let Natsuno go after a bit,

"Good, I don't want you thinking you're better than me now!"

They both laughed quietly, a thought suddenly re-entered Natsuno's mind,

"Hey.. Tohru, about yesterday.."

He seemed rather solemn all of a sudden,

"What is it?"

Tohru still smiled happily like he always did,

"I.. uh.."

Natsuno couldn't help but feel slightly awkward,

"If it makes you happy then.. I'll support you.."

Tohru looked confused,

"Support me with what? Hey, is that another insult?"

He went to grab Natsuno again but Natsuno deliberately pulled away from him this time,

"I'm being serious Tohru-Chan, if it makes you happy, I'll support you on asking Ritsuko out on a date.."

It seemed to take Tohru a moment to process what had just been said,

"You mean that?"

Natsuno nodded slightly,

"Sure.. whatever.."

Tohru suddenly lunged forward and pulled Natsuno into a hug,

"Oh my God man, you're the best!"

Natsuno gasped slightly, what the heck is he doing?

"C-Cut it out with the fictional affection already!"

Tohru seemed to hold him even tighter. Natsuno felt strange, he didn't know what was going on. He felt hot, he felt sick, but.. he felt good? He felt comfortable, content.. like he could just hold Tohru too..

"Thanks Natsuno.. I really appreciate this.."

Tohru pulled back from the hug but seemed to stare right at Natsuno.

"T-Tohru-Chan..?"

Tohru smiled, it seemed softer than usual as he gently slid a hand up to Natsuno's cheek. Natsuno froze at his touch but he was still enjoying the feeling, he'd usually hate it when someone touched him; even if it was his mother but this felt so good for some reason.

Natsuno closed his eyes slightly, he had no idea why but he felt like he should as Tohru's face seemed to be moving closer to his own slowly.

"Natsuno..."

Natsuno closed his eyes completely.

"TOHRU!"

They both seemed to jolt back to reality, Aoi was calling him from downstairs. Natsuno shuffled away from him quickly while Tohru stood up and went to his bedroom door.

"W-What is it Aoi?"

"You've got a phone call! I think it's from that nurse you like!"

"I'll be right there!"

Tohru ran downstairs while Natsuno flinched at what he'd overheard; he just realised what had almost happened. He covered his mouth almost instinctively and felt his cheeks burning. Were we about to kiss..?

He stood up and without thinking began to pace the room, he felt so strange, so sick yet so good, what was going on? Guys can't love each other, it's gross.. and besides, Tohru's straight and he was straight, wasn't he? Of course Tohru was, he liked Ritsuko. But who did helike? He sat on the edge of the bed as he thought, there's never really been anybody that he liked.. other than Tohru, but he didn't like him like that, did he?

Natsuno sighed as he buried his face in his hands and tried to think.

What the hell am I doing?

He laid back on Tohru's bed and closed his eyes.

Natsuno didn't realise how much time had passed until he was snapped out of his thoughts by the all-too-familiar sound of a knock on the door. He sat up quickly and put a hand to his head, he was about to grab his bag and make his way downstairs until he heard a voice. Her voice.

"Ritsuko's here..?"

He suddenly felt sick. His stomach felt tight, the thought of Tohru being with her made him feel terrible inside. But why?

Natsuno quietly moved away from the bed and made his way to the top of the stairs where he listened carefully to the conversation that was unfolding on the floor below.

"Thanks for coming over Ritsuko, what did you want to talk about?"

"No, no, thank you for inviting me..."

Natsuno clenched a fist slightly, she's so sickly sweet to him..

"I just wanted to talk to you about the offer you made me earlier on the phone"

Offer? What offer? He didn't ask her out already did he? It was so difficult for Natsuno to resist going downstairs and pulling Tohru away from her.

"Oh you mean the date?"

Natsuno's feeling of nausea returned, he was going to lose Tohru to her wasn't he?

"Yes... I'm happy that you offered to take me out but.."

"But what..?"

"I hope you don't think of me badly.. but I'm just not interested in you that way."

It went silent downstairs. Did she just reject him?

"I'd love to be friends with you Tohru. But there's already.. someone else that I like."

Natsuno began to edge towards the next step down.

"It's okay, I'm sorry for asking."

"Please don't feel bad Tohru, I just didn't know how else to tell you."

There was a familiar light chuckle,

"It's fine really, I guess you'd better go huh?"

"Yes.. I'll see you another time okay Tohru?"

Natsuno heard the door open again,

"See you later Ritsuko"

The door closed quietly and there was a faint sigh followed by a mumbled,

"Shit..."

Natsuno wasn't sure how to feel. In one way he was glad that his friend had just been rejected, at least it meant that he didn't have to worry about Ritsuko taking him away from him. But on the other hand, Tohru's liked her for a long time, he probably feels really hurt and upset right now.

Natsuno decided it would probably be a good idea to pretend he hadn't heard the conversation and moved quickly but quietly back into the bedroom. He sat on the edge of Tohru's bed and picked up the old bag he'd been using as shelter from the rain, he'd completely forgotten to eat today, maybe that's why he kept feeling sick now and then. He sighed and pulled the sandwich out of his bag before he ate it.

Tohru came back in the room after a bit and glanced at Natsuno with a small smile. He was obviously trying to put on a brave face in front of him. Natsuno stood up and made his way over to him.

"Tohru-chan?"

He knew it'd be better to pretend he had no idea what was going rather than make it obvious that he was listening in on Tohru's private conversation.

"She blew me off for some other guy..."

He sighed quietly,

"Figures..."

Natsuno put a supportive hand no Tohru's shoulder,

"It'll be okay.."

Tohru smiled slightly,

"Yeah I know"

He chuckled,

"Just a part of life right?"

Natsuno nodded,

"Live and learn buddy... Live and learn."

It seemed like Tohru had forgotten what had happened between them earlier...

A/N: Hopefully the second chapter wasn't too bad 3 I'm actually having fun writing this! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed ot :)

Next chapter soon...

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Megumi finally thinks up a plan and puts it into action.Will it tear Natsuno & Tohru apart? Or pull them closer to each other than ever before?