BloodLust: okay… chappie #3 already, as requested by Aniwe… (hint 'request'; sound familiar Aniwe…? –evil grin- -coughrikuesutocough- XD)

Anyways, still getting evil thoughts in my head… although it will still be a few chapters from here where they'll appear… XD

Anyways please enjoy the fic… Also this and chappie four (and I think five is sort of too…) could be some sort of a 'side-story' in the fic so please just bear with me for a while… I do plan to make, um, 'developments' in said chappies…

Aniwe HERE is chappie three! Deal with it… XD

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Developmental

Chapter Three:

Shigeru woke up feeling a little bit ill, but he just didn't mind it. He got out of bed and stretched. As he began on his usual daily routine his thoughts wandered to last night's events…

(Flashback…)

Kazuma and Shigeru were walking towards Kazuma's apartment in silence when Kazuma suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, Shigeru…"

"Huh…?" was Shigeru's disconcerted reply.

Kazuma was looking at him through a side way view with a smile on his lips. "Why don't we have dinner together…? Come on, it's my treat…"

"Ano… I'm not really su-" Shigeru tried to excuse himself but Kazuma suddenly clung to his arm and pouted at him.

"Aww… Please Shigeru…" Kazuma pleaded "I need to repay you somehow for not telling the others AND you also agreed to accompany me… So come on… Please…"

Shigeru still looked indecisive, so Kazuma decided to use his last and most irresistible strategy: the puppy dog eyes. (A/N: KAWAII! XD)

And so, like all those unfortunate people who had the puppy dog eyes used on them, Shigeru agreed once again to Kazuma's requests. They went to a restaurant and had their dinner there. Kazuma paid for all their bills despite Shigeru's constant protests about it.

And after their dinner, they continued towards Kazuma's apartment. However about two blocks from said destination heavy rain started to pour upon them.

Shigeru had started to run for cover but then he realized that Kazuma was not with him. He looked back and saw Kazuma just a few feet from him standing there in the rain. Shigeru quickly receded towards Kazuma.

"Oi! Kazuma… Come on… We need to find shelter… Don't just stand under the rain like that…" Shigeru said to Kazuma but Kazuma didn't seem to want to go out of the rain yet and just stood there.

Shigeru was getting wetter by the minute and really wanted to find shelter already but he can't just leave Kazuma standing there, so he grabbed Kazuma by his hand and ran towards the nearest refuge from the rain that he could find.

Kazuma was surprised when someone took hold of his hand and began to drag him away, but although he didn't want to go yet, he also didn't want to lose his balance and fall down on the ground so he just ran along with the person whom he had guessed to be Shigeru. And just thinking about that made a pink hue appear on Kazuma's cheeks.

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They were about to run further when Kazuma stopped and so did Shigeru. Shigeru looked at him with an expression that clearly said 'What?'

"My apartment's just over there…' Kazuma shouted while pointing to the opposite direction. "It's just one block away… Come on…" And with that he began to run towards the said direction, pulling Shigeru along with him.

They reached Kazuma's apartment in less than five minutes and were already standing on the porch, soaking wet, while Kazuma opened the door. They went inside and closed the door behind them, their backs slid down the door as exhaustion came over them. Both of them had their eyes closed and were breathing heavily as their sweat, mixed with the rain, trickled down their arms and faces.

Shigeru had never been this tired in his whole life… He felt that all his energy was drained from him… His eyes slowly fluttered open… He wearily raised his hand to wipe some of the sweat and rain water on his face; however he noticed that his hand was linked with another's hand.

His eyes quickly followed the connection and he found himself looking directly at Kazuma who was just staring back at him with a quite surprised expression on his face. And the next thing he knew was that he was gazing intently at Kazuma as Kazuma continued staring at him. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Kazuma had the courage to break his gaze and look away from Shigeru, he then reluctantly disengaged their entwined hands as his face began to flush. Meanwhile Shigeru was starting to collect himself and was starting to blush as well. 'Well this is getting awkward…' Shigeru thought to himself.

Kazuma then stood up and went to his room; Shigeru just looked at his retreating form and continued to sit there hugging his knees. Kazuma then returned with two towels, one of which he was already using to dry himself. He gave the other one to Shigeru who stood up, accepted it and said thanks.

"Well, then… I should be going now…" Shigeru said once he had properly dried himself (well in reality he just dried off his hair, his clothes are still sort of wet…). "You're already home whereas I still have to get to my house… Ja, Kazuma…" Shigeru was already about to go out when Kazuma stopped him.

"But Shigeru it's still raining…" Kazuma said worriedly.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm gonna get home fine…"

Kazuma still looked doubtful "Well it's your decision… but either way… here." Kazuma handed Shigeru an umbrella.

Shigeru gave a small smile. "Thanks…" And with that he went out into the rain and began to walk home.

(End Flashback…)

Shigeru was already changing his clothes; having already finished eating and showering, and he will soon be going off to work.

Mid-way through his shirt Shigeru thought about Kazuma… 'What could've happened to him…? I hope that he didn't get sick or anything…'

After he had finished dressing up he got his apartment keys and also the umbrella that Kazuma had lent him and went out of his apartment, heading towards the Pantasia Southern Tokyo Branch.

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When he came into the Pantasia Southern Tokyo branch, he was surprised to see that Kazuma wasn't there… Kazuma usually came to work earlier than him. However he decided not to worry about it too much, Kazuma might just be late or something… So he just changed into his uniform and began to bake bread for the store.

However, noon came and went but still, Kazuma hadn't showed up. This made Shigeru a little bit more worried.

Suddenly the telephone rang.

"Shigeru would you mind to answer the phone please…? I'm kinda busy right now…" Tsukino said from the other side of the store.

"Okay…"

Shigeru went to answer the phone. "Good afternoon, Pantasia Southern Tokyo Branch… Kanmuri Shigeru speaking… Who is it…?" (A/N: I don't really think that the greeting is right… would anyone mind to tell how it's supposed to be…? O.o)

A feeble voice came from the other end of the telephone. "Shigeru… I-it's Kazuma… sorry but I can't go to work today…"

Shigeru blinked and sat down on a chair. "Kazuma? What happened to you?"

"Eheheh… You see… I kinda caught a cold from last night and, well, this morning when I woke up I was feeling kind of feverish…-cough cough-"

"Hmm, seems like you also have cough Kazuma…" Shigeru commented when he heard Kazuma's coughing.

"Erm… yeah… that to… -sniff sniff- So, um, I'm not really sure when I can be going back to work… Inaho came earlier and said that I may take a while to recover… She's now taking care of me… Speaking of which, I gotta go now, if Inaho sees me up from bed she'll probably kill me… Bye!"

"Oh… okay then… Get well soon Kazuma…" Shigeru said as he hung up the phone.

'So that's why he isn't at work today…' Shigeru thought to himself. 'I hope that he'll recuperate soon…'

"Hey Shigeru, who was it who had called?" Tsukino asked when she went into the room.

Shigeru looked up and replied. "Oh, it was Kazuma… He fell ill and said that he won't be going to work until he recovers from his sickness… He also said not to worry because his sister, Inaho, is taking good care of him…"

"Aww, Poor Kazuma… Do you know what his sickness is?" Tsukino asked.

"Well, he has a cold and cough, and he also said that he was pretty feverish…" Shigeru said.

Tsukino just sighed. "I hope that Kazuma will get better soon…"

'You're not the only one, Tsukino…' Shigeru thought to himself.

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BloodLust: Thank you for reading! Please review… :D

Anyway, still gotta go and rest myself… having just read a 76-page FanFic in 3 hours straight… -yawn- add in a few revisions and re-writings… plus, the fanfics that have updated and I needed to read… -sigh- X3

Oh and by the way, before I forget, how do Tsukino and the others address Inaho? Kindly tell me since I'll be using it in the next chapter, thanks very much! Ja… -grabs plushie and drops dead… uhh, I mean falls asleep, yeah, asleep-