A/N: Alright, another chapter. I'm sorry if this seems totally odd and all, but I can't resist writing about certain things. Anyhoo, Choutarou decides on what he's getting Shishido and there is another small appearance from the Golden Pair. Well, read and enjoy!

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Count on Me

"What should I get?…"

"I'm going to go out for a while!"

Choutarou pulled on his shoes and walked out the door. As he was walking down the street he took his time searching any shop that seemed interesting. So far, he had no luck.

"Mommy! Can we go to Build-A-Bear? Please!"

"Sure. Do you know what you're going to do?"

He stopped and listened on the conversation. He had heard about that particular store before but had never actually seen one or been to one.

"I'll go look…Maybe I'll get an idea…"

After walking a few blocks, he arrived at a two-story building with a giant bear in front. Choutarou walked inside and was surprised at what he found. There children everywhere. Some were looking through different bins of fur pelts while others were picking out miniature outfits.

"Oh right…Build-A-Bear…Looks fun."

"May I help you, sir?"

"Yes, how does this all work?"

The worker energetically showed him a stuffed pink poodle in a ballerina outfit and began to explain the process.

"First, you pick out a pelt, the examples are right there, and you then take it to those people over there. That's where it gets stuffed and stitched up. Afterwards, you go over to that wall over there and pick out an outfit."

"Sounds fun! I think I'll get Shishido-san something here. It's silly, but I want it to be fun…Now which one?"

"Is this for somebody or for yourself?"

Choutarou smiled at the worker.

"Ah, no. It's for a friend."

"That's so sweet!"

"Thank you."

Choutarou walked over to the different bins of animal furs and had the eternal battle of what unnecessarily cute animal to pick. After searching around for a while, he found a fluffy, gray-furred teddy bear. He stood there a few moments tossing the pelt from one hand to the other looking it over.

"This one seems right!…Okay…Holding an animal pelt like this feels funny…"

He then headed to where a small child was waiting for his pelt to get stuffed. The young girl craned her head up and looked at him.

"Hey, Mister? Do you like teddy bears too?"

Choutarou looked down at the child and smiled. He crouched down so he could get closer to eye level.

"Of course! Do you like them?"

"Yeah! There soooo cute and cuddly and soft and, and, and, I really, really like them!"

Choutarou smiled at the girl's excited explanation.

"Pick a heart."

"Excuse me?"

The young girl tugged at his sleeve and had to explain.

"You gotta pick out a heart for your bear!"

"Oh, okay. Lets see."

He grabbed a small red heart out of a little box along with the little girl.

"Alright. Now you have to rub it so your new friend will have a warm heart."

Choutarou atched as the young child furiously rubbed at the heart. He soon followed suit albeit a gentler manner.

"Now rub it on your arm muscle so it can be big and strong."

Once again he watched the little girl and mimicked the motion. As he was doing these steps, he began to wonder about these people.

"And I thought holding an animal pelt was weird…This is a little awkward…It makes sense…in a really odd way though…"

"Finally, close your eyes and make a wish and dream."

"Are you serious?…Oh well…Let's see…I really hope Shishido-san and I are friends…I want this to be fun, but special…Ikyuu…Nyuu…Kon…"

He opened his eyes again and by this time his bear was stuffed and he handed the heart over to be stuffed inside. It was then stitched up and handed back. The little girl had just finished hers as well and began hugging it.

"Hey, Mister! Now we get to pick out clothes and name them!"

"Okay."

Choutarou walked over to a large wall with rows upon rows of miniature outfits. He began to browse around for a while, as he did not bother to think about how he wanted to dress it. As he was looking around, he noticed a small boy attempting to reach something on the higher shelf. Choutarou walked over, grabbed it, and handed it to the boy.

"Thank you!"

"Excuse me, Mister. Can you get that one down for me?"

Another child came up and pointed to a dress on the highest rack. He easily reached up and handed it to the younger child.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you, Mister!"

"Now what to do…Huh?"

He looked around and noticed he was now surrounded by a group of children.

"Wow, he's so tall!"

"Can you help me? Please?"

"Me too!"

Choutarou smiled at all the children. Then, one-by-one he got down any outfits from the top racks. After finding and handing out the clothing, he saw one last child looking at the higher up clothes.

"Do you need something?"

The child looked up at Choutarou and looked like he was about to cry.

"I can't figure out which one to get and I can't see the other stuff!"

"How about a closer look?"

Choutarou gently lifted the child and set him on his shoulders. The young boy began to giggle as he was now six feet higher.

"Wow, this is great! You're really tall, Mister! Hey, now I can see everything!"

As the child began to scan the higher shelves, Choutarou continued to search for an outfit.

"How can there be so many?…Let's see…I have no clue…"

"Yeah this is the one!"

"Did you find something you liked?"

"Yeah! Thanks, Mister!"

"Sure."

Choutarou carefully placed the boy back on the floor and watched him run over to his mother. He then turned back to the clothes rack. He was about to give up when he happened to look down and noticed a fallen package of clothes. As he was hanging it back up, Choutarou took it back down. It had white and blue pants, a white shirt and a jacket to match the pants.

"Perfect! They really do have everything…But that is kind of freaky…Oh well, this is just what I was looking for!"

"Hey, Mister! Over here!"

He looked over at the source of the voice and saw the same little girl as from before. He walked over to where she was standing. It was a small table that had mini bathtubs with brushes to the side.

"Seriously…everything is done here…"

The little girl was currently pretending to wash her bear and continued to instruct Choutarou.

"You have to give him a bath now and then brush his fur before he can be dressed."

"Oh, okay."

Choutarou took his bear and set it in a bathtub. He proceeded to then pretend to give it a bath just as the girl instructed. After the pretend soaking, he grabbed a brush and began brushing its fur.

"I really, really hope Shishido-san likes this…"

After what he deemed a decent grooming he followed the girl to another table that had a small stand up mirror.

"These are the dressing rooms for privacy. Now you have to dress him."

"Right."

He walked over to another open table and began to put the outfit on the bear. After struggling with the pants, the rest was easy. He held it out in front of him and looked it over.

"Done!"

"Almost, but now you have to name him and get his birth card thing."

"Of…course…"

He walked over to a set of computers. Choutarou sat down and began the naming process.

"I don't know what to name it…"

After sitting for a while he finally decided on a name. He typed it in and then had it printed out.

"Is that it?"

"Yup! Isn't this so much fun?"

"Yes it is."

Choutarou finally was able to get out of the store and go back home. He had not been out for a very long time, but he felt tired and it felt good when he got back onto the streets. He then decided to just go home and try and get some homework done.

"That was actually a complicated process for just getting a stuffed animal…Well, I'm done now and I'm happy with the results."

As he was walking, he noticed a couple of familiar people. Coming his way was the Golden Pair. This time they were together and laughing about something. Oishi then noticed Choutarou.

"Hello again!"

"Hey, you were right about that present I got! He liked it!"

"I'm happy for you, Kikumaru-san."

Oishi looked surprised at Eiji and Choutarou.

"You asked him too?"

This time Eiji looked surprised.

"Yeah! Wow, Oishi, this has to be fate, nya!"

"I'm not sure about that, but it is quite the coincidence."

Choutarou smiled at the pair's reactions. Eiji was happily tugging on Oishi's arm while Oishi began to laugh.

"Thank you, Ootori-san. Sorry if the whole thing seemed odd."

"No problem. I'm glad you enjoy each other's gifts."

Eiji energetically nodded his head and then noticed the conspicuous box Choutarou was holding.

"Did you just go to Build-A-Bear, nya? It's a really fun place isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, it was."

"Who's it for? Is it for your double's partner?"

"Eiji, you shouldn't pry into other people's business. Sorry about that."

"That's fine. Besides, he's right. It's just something a little fun."

"Shishido-san doesn't strike me as the type to like teddy bears, but I bet anything he'll really like because you made it."

Eiji agreed with his friend.

"It doesn't matter what it is as long as it's from the heart. Knowing your friend put effort into it makes it more precious regardless if they collect stuffed animals or not. Right Oishi?"

"Right. Well, sorry for keeping you so long and getting involved so much. But I think its great that you went through that whole Build-A-Bear workshop thing."

"Thank you very much. See you!"

"Bye, bye!"

Eiji waved enthusiastically as he and Oishi continued to walk to whatever destination they were planning on. Choutarou smiled and waved back. He then looked down at the box.

"I really hope they're right…"

He finally reached his home and walked to his room. He set the box down and pulled out his creation.

"Hmm, still seems to be missing something…"

As he was contemplating the features of the bear, his older sister walked by and noticed the bear he was holding.

"Cute bear! What's it for, or rather who is it for?"

Choutarou was caught off guard. He had not heard his sister come in.

"Oh…Well, for a friend…Why?"

His sister sat down on his bed and grabbed the bear from her younger brother.

"Just curious…Let me guess. It's for a certain senpai…"

She laughed as Choutarou began to blush and quickly yanked the bear out of her hands. His sister got up and ruffled his hair.

"Guess I'm right, huh? Well, I think it's cute. Besides, it kind of reminds me of you. Anyways, you should get started on your homework my cute, little brother."

"R-right. I was just getting to that."

His sister just laughed and walked out of the room leaving Choutarou still clutching the bear.

"That was embarrassing…But what is it missing?"

Choutarou closed his door this time and then began inspecting his bear again. As he was walking around with it, he noticed the missing feature. He set the bear down on his bed and walked over to his desk. After looking through a couple of them, he finally found what he was looking for.

"This will work just fine."

He walked over to the bear and began tying a chain around its neck.

"There. Yeah, it looks good!"

The bear now had a silver chain with a charm of a cross hanging on it. Choutarou had gotten it when he was younger but now it was too small to e comfortable. It fit perfectly on the bear.

"Now it looks complete."

He then took the bear and placed it on the corner of his desk. Choutarou was then able to pull out his homework and begin working on it.

"I think it was worth it. It really does look perfect now…I hope what Kikumaru-san and Oishi-san said are right about Shishido-san. Oh well, no use worrying about it. I like to keep thinking that he will like it…

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A/N: Wee, now wasn't that fun to read? Sorry if that was a total bore, but I promise it does have relevance to a certain point later on. By the way, I realize that an average kid in Japan wouldn't spend the money to buy a Build-A-Bear for a friend on a whim, but this is fanfiction, so it's possible. And for those who are wondering, yes, there are Build-A-Bear Workshops in Japan. I've actually been in one. I had no idea what they were saying, but since I've made a bear before I could guess. Next chapter will come soon, though I'm not sure how soon. I have to carefully think this next part out so it might take a couple of days longer than usual. Who knows, though. I hope you all enjoyed!