Kanji walked out of the elevator into Junes' lobby, a bag full of groceries and other items in his hand. His mother needed some items for dinner and he couldn't help but browse the craft supply department while he was there. He stopped just inside the doors, dug through the bag, and pulled out the Topsicle he had bought as a snack. He began to eat it as Naoto walked through the front doors and saw him standing there.
"Hello Kanji." Naoto said as she approached him. Kanji quickly took a large bite out of the Topsicle to greet her, instead of just simply removing it from his mouth.
"Havo Maobo!" Kanji replied, his mouth full of Topsicle. Naoto smiled at his carelessness. Embarrassed, Kanji swallowed and a sharp pain rushed to his head.
"Ah! Shitshitshit!" Kanji cursed, rubbing his forehead. Naoto couldn't help herself and she started to laugh at him. As his brain freeze began to subside, Kanji started to laugh as well.
"So, what are you doing here?" Kanji asked, once they had both calmed down.
"My grandfather needed me to pick up a few things." Naoto replied, showing him a short list.
"Oh, I'll join you, then. If that's ok…"
"Aren't you done with your shopping?" Naoto asked, looking down on his bag of groceries.
"Oh…um…y-yeah, sorta…" Kanji replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"You can still come with me, if you want. Shopping is usually more enjoyable with friends." Naoto told him.
"T-that's exactly what I was thinking!" Kanji said. They started walking towards the elevators.
"Hey! You! Wait!" Someone was calling to them from behind. They turned to see a cop running towards them. Kanji felt some anger swell up almost immediately. He was really getting sick of cops pestering him all of the time. But he remembered what he learned from the incident with the young boy and his friend's doll, and he calmed himself. Naoto looked up at him as he took a step forward and put himself between her and the officer. Kanji didn't even think about how Naoto's connection to the police could easily get him out of whatever trouble the cop thinks he's in. If he was truly going to be a man, he was going to have to start handling things himself.
"Good afternoon," the cop said when he was near enough.
"H-hello, officer." Kanji replied, doing his best to be polite and calm.
"I have a quick question for you. Have you seen anyone that looked like this recently? There's been a rash of shoplifting going on at Junes…" The cop gave them a quick description of the possible thief. Neither of them had seen such a person and they told the cop so. "OK, thank you for your time. If you do see someone like that, please let us or a Junes employee know." The cop tipped his hat to them and walked over to speak to someone else in the lobby. Kanji stood in shock for a moment. That cop hadn't accused him of anything. He didn't even give him a second look after they answered his question. Kanji cracked a small smile.
"Huh, guess he was right…" he said, under his breath.
"Who was right about what?" Naoto asked.
"Yu-senpai," Kanji replied. "He taught me that being myself was better than being defensive. A lot more people will be willing to accept me than put me down. I guess he was right. A year ago, I would've probably given that cop an attitude and he would've started to suspect me, instead of just walking away like that."
"They do say that the best way to be accepted by others is by first accepting yourself." Naoto told him. "I'm still working on that last part."
"You'll get there." Kanji said. "If I can do it, anyone can. I'm still not completely there myself. We can work on it together."
"Thank you for the encouragement." Naoto said. "You know, Kanji, I've never noticed how much we have in common before…" This sparked a conversation between the two of them as they went into the elevator to complete Naoto's shopping,
Kanji and Naoto feel their relationship has grown yet deeper…
