"YOU KNEW!"

Ryuuji tried to launch himself at Shima, but Shima quickly dodged and began to run away, snickering the entire time.

Konekomaru stifled a sigh. "Bon, please calm down," he said without looking up from the letter he was carefully composing.

"Yeah, it's no biggie, right?" Shima threw a grin over his shoulder.

Ryuuji growled. "Wrong! You shoulda told me! Argh! Stay still!"

"As if!" Shima began to run faster. They raced around the big oak tree and Konekomaru only got up to stop them once he was done with his letter. He dragged them both by the ears and made them apologize to each other.

"Why'd I gotta apologize?!"

"It's not entirely Shima-san's fault, is it? You're just picking on him 'cause you're embarrassed."

"Yeah, yeah!" Shima nodded vigorously at Konekomaru's words.

"Shima-san isn't without fault though. You should've corrected Bon once you knew Rin-kun was a boy."

Shima withered under Konekomaru's disapproving stare.

Ryuuji shot a heated glare at them both.

"You guys are the worst," he muttered, embarrassed. Once Konekomaru let them go, Ryuuji stared at the letter in his hand with a well-lit blush on his face until he could muster up the strength to write down a reply.

Dear Rin,

I am really, really sorry for calling ya a girl! This is mostly my fault but Shima's to blame too. He thought Yukio was a girl at first 'cause he dirtied the last character of his name when we got the cards, and so he thought the two of ya were sisters. Pretty sure he's known you were a boy for a while now, but he didn't tell me to mess with me. I'm really sorry about that!

Glad to hear your dad's doing alright though. I'm sure he loved your food too. Can't believe you can cook so many different things already. I'd like to try some one day if possible.

I also wish I could make the people around you stop saying those awful things. People are stupid. Around here, I get called names too because my temple has a bad history. Something bad happened a few years ago, so now they think it's cursed. That's why I get called "the child of the cursed temple." I hate it, but I do my best to ignore it. My pops always tells me I shouldn't let it get to me, and being around Shima and Konekomaru helps. I think it's gonna be a little easier now too since I can talk to you about it. Let's do our best together and ignore it, okay?

I'm glad I met you and that I can be your friend. I think you're awesome too. If you need any help with anything, tell me, okay? Don't hold anything back. I'm always here to listen.

Hope this letter finds you well, and that I hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Your friend, Ryuuji