Wow, I'm on a roll here! I have managed to complete the next chapter in one day, I'm so happy! ^-^

Anyway, here it is! X

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

A door slowly creaked open and closed. A girl discretely (?) slipped off her shoes and ran up the stairs.

"Yuiko?" A man yelled from the kitchen. He peered round the corner of the stairs to see the girl running down the stairs, skipping a few steps. "Yuiko! Where have you been? You were out all last night! Did… something happen?" Yuiko's father thought of the 'talk' he and Yuiko had a few days ago (refer back to chapter 3).

Yuiko ran and hugged her dad. "I'm fine, dad. Sorry for worrying you…" She pulled away from him and ran into the veterinary clinic to grab a bag of dog biscuits. She then ran to the fridge and took out two bottles of soda. She ran past her dad, spinning him like a ballerina, just not as daintily. She looked back at him. "Sorry, dad but I have to go. I promised to go back to his home after I got changed!" Her father looked at her in disbelief. "I'll be back later! Ittekimasu!" That was the last word out of her mouth before the door slammed shut.

Yuiko's father stood there motionless. "Going back to his… House? After getting changed…?" Yuiko's father knelt on the floor and began to cry. "My little girl… She… She…" He raised his head as a 'light' from the heavens beamed on him. "My little girl is finally a woman!" (You don't want to know the reason why he thinks this, do you? Hint: (Very inappropriate!) Pervy thoughts ^-^)

Yuiko held the soda and dog biscuits close to her chest as she ran through the street and up to the large black mansion with its dark aura (Normally, wouldn't a girl be running away from such things?). A bright smile spread across her face as she saw a figure sitting high up in a tree in the mansion grounds. "HEY!" She yelled, waving vigorously with one hand to the figure.

He turned to see her and leaped from the tree to the ground and ran up to the black gate. Yuiko sweat-dropped, seeing that the gate was almost 8 foot and the tree the boy was sitting on was almost twice the height. "Is that boy even human?" She muttered to herself as she slowed down near the gate.

The boy opened the ghoulish gate with a creak and smiled childishly at Yuiko. "Kubozuka-san!" He threw himself at Yuiko and wrapped his arms around her neck like a little child, purring and rubbing her face. "Kubozuka-san, you came back!"

Yuiko sighed and looked away. "Yeah, that's because I said I would come back…" Yuiko pushed Leo away from her and waved a finger in front of him. "And don't call me Kubozuka-san. It's Yuiko." She scolded him.

His ears (!) flopped down and his puppy-eyes looked straight at Yuiko. "But…" The boy pouted.

Yuiko shook her head and refused to look at his face. "No buts! I am your friend, so you call me Yuiko! Kubozuka-san…" Yuiko slouches over. "…Makes me sound like I'm old…" An image of an old granny with a walking stick appeared in her and the boys head.

Leo's ears perked up and his eyes brightened. "Okay, Kubo…Yuiko-san!" His tail (!) wagged happily.

Yuiko smacked her face and shook her head. "Loose the '-san' please. It still makes me sound old…" She murmured. After moaning to herself, she invited herself in to the mansion grounds and saw the large dog near a tree, wagging his tail.

Yuiko, trying to refrain herself from chasing after the dog, sat beside the old oak tree and placed the dog biscuits and soda beside her. Leo joined her and sat to her left. He smiled at the girl who smiled back. She picked up a bottle of soda and gave it to Leo. "Here. It isn't much of a 'thanks for everything' present, but it's the thought that counts, right?" She picked up the other bottle and opened it. A fffssshhh noise escaped the bottle as Yuiko took of the lid. She took a large gulp of the soda before removing it from her lips.

Leo took a small sip, unsure as to what it was. His eyes widened and he removed his mouth from the bottle quickly. "Kubozuka-san! It's fizzing in my mouth!" His clueless-kitten attitude had reawakened.

Yuiko tried her hardest to not laugh at the innocent little boy beside her. "Really? Who knew?" She muttered to herself, trying to refrain from saying anything else. "And stop calling me Kubozuka-san!" She turned to Leo and scolded him, gently knocking her soda bottle on his head.

He flinched and nodded to the serious girl (In actuality, inside, Yuiko was laughing so much she was crying, but she never told Leo that ^-^) "Sorry…"

Yuiko folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, what?"

Leo shuffled his feet and looked down. "Sorry, Yuiko…"

A gentle hand stroked Leo's black spiky hair. He looked up to see Yuiko smiling at him. "Good boy!" Leo smiled back with a slight blush.

The two sat against the old oak tree quietly, feeling the cool wind across their faces. Yuiko opened the bag of dog biscuits and her overly-pet-loving self took over, trying to entice the dog to eat a biscuit from her hand, only to utterly fail. Childish tears crept their way through her eyes and she pouted, lowering her hand holding the bone-shaped, BBQ-flavoured dog biscuit.

Leo saw her depressed face and took a biscuit out of the bag. Immediately, the dog ran straight for Leo. "Sit." Leo ordered the dog, raising the biscuit in his hand, keeping constant eye-contact with the dog, which seemed to be doing the same but with the biscuit. Yuiko looked up from her brooding position at Leo who had complete control over the dog. He raised a finger to the dog's nose and the dog sniffed it. He then placed his hand palm-up, chest height to the dog. "Shake" He ordered sternly.

Yuiko's eyes sparkled as she saw the dog clumsily smack its paw onto Leo's hand. Leo grinned and gave the dog the long-awaited prize. "Good boy!" He ruffled the fur behind the dog's ears as he happily munched away at the biscuit. Leo turned to see Yuiko with an impressed expression, anxiously wanting to try it herself. Leo smiled and took out another biscuit, in which the dog immediately saw and fixated on as his next treat.

"Want to try?" He asked earnestly. Yuiko nervously nodded with an innocent expression. She shuffled closer to Leo and knelt on her knees. Leo shuffled closer to Yuiko and held her left hand with his.

He gave her the dog biscuit to hold and guided her hand to the dog's snout. He sniffed it cautiously. "Don't worry, this person is nice. She won't hurt you." Leo whispered softly to the dog that seemed to understand his words. Yuiko swallowed hard and watched Leo 'charm' the dog.

His calm, friendly expression caused her to blush, seeing how close his face was to hers. He moved her hand away from the dog. "Now raise your right hand in front of his nose." He gently guided Yuiko with his words. She raised it in front of the dog that sniffed it closely to its nose. It delicately licked Yuiko's finger tips in affection. She then placed her hand chest-height to the dog and softly spoke. "Shake."

The dog, as clumsily as he did last time, smacked Yuiko's hand with his paw. Leo guided Yuiko's hand to the dog's mouth and gave him the biscuit. Whilst she had the chance, Yuiko slipped her hand behind the dog's ear and scratched it, casing the dog to tilt his head contentedly to one side as he munched and crunched his well-deserved reward.

Surprised by the dog's reaction, Yuiko blushed even more, smiling as if she was the happiest girl in the world. But perhaps she felt that way because of a certain someone sitting so close to her, holding her hand…?

Ittekimasu: Japanese term spoken by someone who is leaving the house i.e. to go to school, work, shopping etc. Literally translates as 'I'm leaving'

-San: A suffix used in Japan to be more formal. In Yuiko's case, the same idea as Miss Kubozuka/ Miss Yuiko. It can be used for either male or female and is oftenly used for older or adult men and women, although Leo is just using it out of politeness.