BloodLust: … For once I've got totally nothing to say… except: LOTS AND LOTS OF THANKS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF THE READERS OF THIS FIC!!! –glomps all of the readers- MAIDO ARIGATOU! AND PLEASE ENJOY THIS SECOND TO THE LAST CHAPPIE OF DEVELOPMENTAL!!!

Note: I know this is VERY unrelated to the fic but I'm just so happy that we won as the Champion in our year level Speech Choir XD and so I decided to update my fic ASAP...

Oh, and before I forget... To whoever that prick is who reviewed this fic with his/her story please don't do it again... It's meant for reviews not your stories, why don't you just register and THEN post your fics? That would be much, much better than putting your story on this fics Review page, thank you very much. Well, that's all for now...


Developmental

Chapter Seven:

The working hours in the store was now through and Kanmuri Shigeru was already out and walking in the streets… However, he wasn't heading towards his apartment, which was usually where he immediately went to after his work, but this time he set off in a different but also familiar direction…

As he went nearer to his destination, he noticed something peculiar… The lights in the house were all turned off and it seemed that no one was home at present… Nonetheless he was curious about why it was so and he went nearer to the house. And sure enough, when he got there, he couldn't hear any sound from beyond the door, no matter how hard he pressed his ear against it. He scratched his head in confusion, "Where could they be at this time? Wait… What is the time?" He looked at his watch "… Oh it's just 6:45… Okay… I'm being too exaggerated again… but still… It isn't like them to suddenly leave the house, although it is locked and safe from any sort of robbery but still… What if something happens to them while they're out…?" Shigeru wondered but he then decided to just sit there and wait, afterall it was already nearing dark, they should be back anytime now…


It was already getting late and Kazuma was in a hurry to get back home. He had been out all day trying to figure out and plan his 'strategy', he was too deep in his thoughts that he wasn't able to keep track of time and so now he was rushing to go back home… He didn't want to go out after the sun has set since that… He took a short cut and was in his house's premises within a few minutes… But he suddenly noticed something different from the house… Another figure could be found lurking in the shadows…

Kazuma took a step back being a bit afraid and at the same time a little bit keener to his surroundings… "Who's there?" Kazuma asked, although his voice sounded like he was demanding it.

"Kazuma… Gods, where have you been?" the figure then stepped out of the shadows.

Kazuma surprised and at the same time glad when he saw who it was, 'Well this is unexpected…' Kazuma thought to himself.

Shigeru crossed his arms over his chest and looked questioningly at Kazuma. "You know I've been waiting here for a while now…"

Kazuma went nearer to Shigeru with a sheepish look on his face. "Eheheh… Sorry about that… I've been out all afternoon and it seems that I haven't been able to keep track of time… And what are you doing here by the way?"

"Me? Well… I just sort of… wanted to check if you were still okay…" Shigeru said while looking away from Kazuma. "But if you went out why wasn't Inaho-san with you? I mean wasn't she supposed to be taking care of you? And why did you even go out in the first place? I mean aren't you still sick or something? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"You know, you should try not to worry too much Shigeru… You sound more worried than Inaho… and that's saying something…" Kazuma said as he went past Shigeru. "I'll explain everything later… Let's get inside the house first… By the looks of you, you're already freezing cold…"

"How'd you know?" asked an astonished Shigeru as he followed Kazuma.

"Hmm… I dunno… But its really obvious from how you look…" Kazuma replied as he unlocked the door and both of them went in. He led them to the living room where it had a fireplace and lit it up to warm up the room. (A/N: I'm not really sure how any of their houses look like so just imagine that it's like that, okay?)

Shigeru sat down on one of the cushions on the floor, feeling the warmth from the fire spread through his body.

Kazuma then went towards his telephone and dialed a number. "Moshi moshi" he greeted. "Is this Ryuusei Noodles? …Hai, Ryuu-san, it's me, Kazuma… I'm okay… Uh-huh… No, of course not… What? Oh yeah, can I order two of your Special Yakisoba… It's for my friend who's here right now… Nope, the other one, Ryuu-san… Yep, that's the one… Really? You'll deliver them? That would be great… Thanks a lot Ryuu-san… Bye…"

"Uh, Kazuma? What was that about?" Shigeru asked from his seat on the floor having heard a few of the statements that Kazuma had said but not quite all of it.

"Oh, that… Well, I just thought that since I really can't do much good in the kitchen, I just ordered out from Ryuu-san's restaurant… I also ordered for one you, Shigeru…"

"Really? But Kazuma, you needn't have bothered…" Shigeru said modestly.

"Aw, come on… I know that you haven't eaten dinner yet… From what you said earlier I figured that you probably came here right after work… And by the looks of you, you probably haven't eaten yet… So I bought dinner for the two of us…" Kazuma said as he sat down on the cushion next to Shigeru.

"Wow, Kazuma, I never knew that you could sense those kind of things…" Shigeru said bemused at how Kazuma had easily figured out the situation.

"Well, let's just say that you really don't me that much then... Anyway, the order won't be coming for the next thirty minutes or so… So why don't we just talk for a while…" Kazuma said when things had suddenly become eerily quiet.

"Hmm… Now that you reminded me… I want to know why you were outside earlier; don't you need to rest or something? And why wasn't Inaho-san with you? Wasn't she supposed to be looking after you?" Shigeru asked.

"Well, nee-san already left after lunch since my fever was already gone… And because of that I have been left here all alone, so I decided to just walk around a bit… To think about something…" Kazuma said.

"And what would that be…?" Shigeru was getting quite interested.

"…Uh… It was just nothing, Shigeru…" Kazuma immediately covered up. "I just wanted to get out and have some fresh air after being inside the house for who knows how long…"

"Okay… I just thought I heard something…" Shigeru said as he shivered a bit. Okay so waiting outside the house for Kazuma to return, when it was already beginning to get dark and cold, wasn't his greatest idea of all time but still…

Shigeru's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a warm hand enclose his own. He immediately looked at Kazuma with a light pink hue on his face. "Kazuma, wha-what are you doing…?"

"Hm? Oh, I just wanted to help you warm your hands a little… Coz even if you do have Solar Hands, you're pretty cold right now, so I thought that I should help you out a bit… Is that okay with you?" Kazuma asked with his never-wavering look of innocence. '…Besides… I don't think that I'll be able to do this again…' he said sadly to himself.

Shigeru couldn't help but think that something was wrong with Kazuma, traces of sadness could be noticed no matter how hard Kazuma tried to hide it. However, he didn't dare to voice out his thought, instead he just smiled warmly at Kazuma and responded. " Thanks Kazuma…"

Kazuma was glad but his memory just reminded him of something, 'Oh crap I forgot something!' "Um, Shigeru?" he asked tentatively. 'Why did I have to forget that? Of all the times, why now?!' "… I seemed to have forgotten to do something and I kinda have to do it… So can I just leave you here for a bit?"

"What is it about? Maybe I can help…" Shigeru asked as he stood up when Kazuma did.

"Eh? No it's okay… I can do it myself; you just stay here and wait… I'm just going to the kitchen to make the tea, that's all…" Kazuma said as he stepped out of the doorway.

"Aww…" Shigeru pouted, "But Kazuma… I don't wanna stay here, so I'll just help you." He then grabbed Kazuma's hand and led the way towards the kitchen almost pulling Kazuma behind him.

"Ah!" Kazuma was startled when Shigeru suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Shigeru…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm okay now… It's not like I'm going to die of being cold…" Shigeru said as they entered the kitchen but he regretted saying it at once when he felt Kazuma's hand suddenly tense in his. He quickly turned around and faced Kazuma; Kazuma was looking away biting his lower lip. "Kazuma... I-I didn't really mean that… I just wanted to say that you shouldn't worry too much about me, I'll be fine…"

"… So you're saying that I'm not allowed to worry about you but you're worrying about me 24/7… That-That's just not fair Shigeru…" Kazuma said as his other hand clenched into a fist. "Why am I not allowed to be concerned of other people's sake while they are always worrying of my well-being…? It's just not fair…"

"Kazuma… that's not what I'm saying…" Shigeru said as he moved closer to the other teen. "It's not like that… I- I just don't want you to be burdened by my little problems… They're just simple things but…"

"But what…?" asked Kazuma as he looked up at Shigeru.

"… But when it comes to your current dilemma, well, it's hard for me not to worry… I-We want to know what's happened to you, to be able to help you... But how can I be at ease when you're not telling any of us anything? So do you now understand why I'm always worrying about you, hmm?"

"But why do you have to worry about me? I'm just okay with the problem… okay, so I'm not okay with it, I really don't know what to do. But why do you have to waste your time in helping me?" Kazuma asked as he unconsciously leaned into Shigeru who wrapped his arms around him. "I mean each of us have our own problems, so why do you worry about mine?"

"Because I couldn't just let that one pass by… I can see how much it affected you and I wanna help you to overcome that… I'm concerned Kazuma… and… I'm sorry about what I've said earlier, it was wrong… I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry… Let's just prepare the tea and forget about it, don't you think so…?" Shigeru said as he ran his hands through Kazuma's soft brown locks.

"-Sigh- Okay then… Sorry for overreacting too…" Kazuma said as he pulled away from Shigeru as slowly as he could to cover-up his surprise when he realized that he was pretty much cuddling up to Shigeru and smiled apologetically which the other teen returned with a smile of his own. They then began to make their tea, never letting go of each other's hands; causing a bright pink blush to appear on both teen's cheeks but the two of them just ignored it. They had already placed the kettle on the stove and were just waiting for it to boil when the doorbell rang making the two of them jump in surprise.

"That must be, Ryuu-san…" Kazuma said as he stood up and Shigeru followed him towards the front door, still having his hands entwined with Kazuma's.

Kazuma quickly opened the door upon reaching it, "Good evening, Ryuu-san. Thanks for delivering the-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know but I wanna see who's your girlfriend? That's why you ordered two, right? My, my, Kazuma, you're already growing up and having a girlfriend… I should really tell Ken about this, you know… He'll be very happy… So where is she? How does she look like? I'll bet that she's very pretty. Can I see her? Come on… Don't be shy, I promise I won't tell anyone else…" Ryuu said it all in one breath.

Kazuma just blinked at him not saying a word but when he did find his voice he said defensively, "Girlfriend? I said no such thing Ryuu-san. Maybe you heard wrong…" Kazuma said as a light pink hue appeared on his cheeks. Shigeru was just behind him and was hearing pretty much all of this.

"Don't lie to me, boy… I know she's in here somewhere…" Ryuu said as he pushed the door open, revealing Shigeru who was just behind Kazuma with a surprised expression on his face. "Erm… Good evening Ryuu-san…"

"Hm? Shigeru? What are you doing here? Oh by the way, do you know where Kazuma is hiding his girlfriend, I know that he's hiding her in here somewhere…" Ryuu inquired as he looked around.

"Uh… Girlfriend?" Shigeru asked perplexed.

"Ryuu-san!!! I told you already! I don't have a girlfriend!!!" Kazuma said as he restrained Ryuu from going into the house. "The other one is for Shigeru!!! Sheesh!"

Upon hearing this Ryuu stopped struggling and looked back at Kazuma, then at Shigeru, and he managed to see their entwined hands. A sly smile spread on his face, "Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh… Okay…. Sorry about that Kazuma…" Ryuu said as he stood up properly and handed Kazuma the package that he had brought which was Kazuma's order.

"Thanks." Kazuma said as he accepted the parcel and reached into his pocket for some money to pay Ryuu, but then Ryuu continued…

"I'm so sorry for accusing you of having a girlfriend, Kazuma… I must have just misheard you earlier…" Ryuu said as he leisurely walked out of the door. "-Sigh- silly me… It wasn't girlfriend… IT WAS BOYFRIEND!!! Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Ryuu shouted the last part as he suddenly ran as fast as he could away from the house laughing his head off, leaving just a trail of smoke behind him.

Meanwhile Kazuma was blushing like mad whereas Shigeru had gone completely pale… Neither of them moving or even saying a word… Only one thought was echoing in their heads: 'D-Did he just say b-boyfriend?!'… The sound of crickets chirping in the background could be heard loud and clear… Tumble winds were dancing in the continuously blowing cold night breeze… When suddenly everything had gone quiet…

"WHAT?!?!" Kazuma shouted at the top of his lungs. He was about to run after Ryuu if it wasn't for Shigeru who quickly held him back.

"Kazuma, stop! Don't! Wait! Kazuma, restrain yourself… It's not worth it! Kazuma!" Shigeru said to Kazuma who was really trying to get away from his grip.

"Ryuu-san!!! Just you wait! When I get hold of you… ARGH!!!" Kazuma was still fighting back without noticing his surroundings that he had accidentally hit Shigeru making the other teen fall down to the floor.

"Ow." Shigeru groaned as he hit the ground.

"Ah, Shigeru! I'm sorry…" Kazuma said when he felt the grip on him loosen and heard a loud THUD! behind him. He then helped Shigeru to get back up on his feet. "Sorry about that, I just got a bit carried away… Are you hurt, Shigeru?"

"Yeah… a bit… It really hurt to be hit and then fall on the pavement…" Shigeru said as he stood up with the help of Kazuma.

"Sorry… I guess I'm just feeling a bit jumpy today…" Kazuma said as he looked towards the ground.

"Don't worry about it, its okay… Come on let's get inside already, our dinner will probably get cold…" Shigeru said as he tilted Kazuma's face upwards and smiled at the teen.

"Okay then…" Kazuma said and walked back to the house with Shigeru.


They had already finished having dinner and were cleaning the dishes when Kazuma was reminded of something, "Um, Shigeru…?"

"What is it, Kazuma?" Shigeru asked before he continued to wash the plates.

"Well, I was just sort of wondering why you didn't react when Ryuu-san said that…" Kazuma said in a small voice…

'Hmm, nice question… Why didn't I react back there…?' Shigeru asked himself as he continued to lather the other glasses. He put down the sponge and glass and continued to think…

"Uh… Shigeru? You still there?" Kazuma asked when Shigeru still didn't reply after a few minutes.

Shigeru sighed, not being able to get the right answer… "Hmm… I don't know, Kazuma… Maybe because it isn't worth thinking about… I mean, Ryuu-san was probably just fooling around when he said that… So maybe that's why I didn't take it too seriously…" Shigeru said as he washed his hands and dried them, having finished lathering the dishes.

"Really? Coz now I'm wondering why did I react back there…" Kazuma said as he rinsed the last of their dishes and then dried it with the towel. "I mean, when I look back at it now… It was really sort of pointless…" he then put the glass back in the cupboard.

"Hmm, well, just forget about it and move on… And speaking of moving on, I must go now Kazuma… It's getting pretty late… I should probably be going home now…" Shigeru said as he looked at the wall clock.

"Okay then… I'll see you out…" Kazuma said as he accompanied Shigeru towards the front door.

"Bye, Kazuma… And thanks again for the dinner..." Shigeru said as he stepped out into the night and waved goodbye to Kazuma…

"Bye Shigeru… Take care…" Kazuma said as he waved goodbye to Shigeru and closed the door. –Sigh- Another day had gone by… Kazuma looked around him… He was alone once again… But, well, he'd better get used to it… Today had been nice… but after tomorrow… He just didn't know what to expect… 'Kamisama, please help me here…'

Kazuma walked into the bathroom to have a shower before he slept, tomorrow was going to be the day… The day that would either make things better or worsen the situation… He finished his shower quickly and returned to his room to change, he then prepared his mat and crept inside. He looked outside the window where the moon could be seen, a full moon was out that night, making it a beautiful scene indeed…

'Wow, a full moon… I wonder if Shigeru could see this… It's really beautiful… Just… like… -yawn- him… Shigeru…' Kazuma then cuddled his pillow and drifted off to sleep…

Meanwhile, Shigeru was staring out of the window in his apartment… A full moon's rays were illuminating his features. He looked again at the little booklet in his hands. He flipped through its pages and stopped at a particular page that he had been scrutinizing at for the past week… 'Is it really worth it? Should I really do this? Only three days to go and then… Its sayonara…' Shigeru sighed; he then put the booklet back in the drawer by his bed. He sat down at the edge of the bed and looked around him. His room was quite empty right now… Most of his clothes and belongings were in the luggage at the corner of the room. '… I don't think that I can do this… But I already promised… So I guess I'll just have to… But, I can always cancel this, right…? But then he'll ask for a valid reason why I did that… And as of now, I can't think of anything to reason out with…' Shigeru fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling above him… 'Should I really leave…?'


BloodLust: Last chappie is on its way peoples!!! I hope that you liked this chappie… Please let me know of what you think… XD I know I made them OOC again, so Im very very sorry for that... but-but... -waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh- I'm just a novice here! I really can't do VERY good fics... I'm just thirteen for god's sake! What would you expect?