Chapter 10

Kanji was dreaming again. He felt tired and sore, but good. The way he felt after a good workout, or a couple of long hours of fighting shadows. He also felt very warm, and it smelled really good… sunsets and strawberries again.

His eyes snapped open. Oh. Ohhhhhh. That was why he felt so nice. He let out a contented sigh. His Ma was going to kill him when he got home. Completely worth it. Naoto stirred in his arms, then opened her eyes. "Good morning," she smiled softly. She didn't seem surprised at all. He needed to get a grip. It was unrealistic to always think he was dreaming when he was with her. They were together now. Girlfriend. She's my girlfriend.

She was stroking his cheek softly, like she had no interest in moving anytime soon, but she said "you should go home. Your mother will be worried."

"I know," he said, also not interested in moving. He kissed her softly, then sighed and gave in. Time to suck it up and go home.

Kanji spent the walk home filled with conflicting thoughts. Half of them were about Naoto and how happy he was. The other half were about how Ma was going to react when he got there. He would much rather keep thinking about Naoto. When he got home, he tried to quietly sneak in the side door. He almost made it to the stairs when Ma called out from the kitchen.

"Kanji-chan? Is that you?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah, Ma," he called back. She appeared in the doorway, looking at him curiously.

"You're not hurt…?" she inquired cautiously.

"N-No… I'm fine."

"I see," she said with a frown, heading back into the kitchen. Kanji stood there for a moment, surprised at the lack of interrogation. Then he skulked up the stairs. He shut his door behind him, and flopped onto the bed. His phone vibrated.

EVERYTHING OK Y/N?

Yeah, seems like it. She didn't really say anything.

I MISS YOU

I miss you too, Naoto.

She didn't reply after that. That was ok. He knew she hated texting. He'd call her later, after he was sure the storm had passed at home. He closed his eyes, thinking about what her face looked like this morning when she first opened her eyes and looked at him. He wished he could bottle the way it made him feel.

"Kanji-chan? Come down and have some tea," his Ma called up to him. He sighed and opened his eyes. Guess we're gonna talk about this after all. He reluctantly went down to the kitchen. Ma was sitting at the table, two cups of tea in front of her. He sat across from her and took his cup. He couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, Ma…" he said. "I-I should have called last night, y-you were probably worried."

"I was," she said simply. "You were at "Naoto-chan's?" she asked quietly.

"Y-Yeah," he answered. She nodded.

"Drink your tea before it gets cold, dear." Wait, that was it? She wasn't going to lecture him? He nodded and brought the cup to his lips.

"Next time, please call and let me know you won't be coming home," she said very softly. He lowered his eyes to the table and blushed.

"Y-Yes, Ma," he mumbled quietly. He felt like a first grader being scolded for not doing his homework. And then that was it. She started talking about how sales had been in the shop this week, and asked if he would have time to go get some materials for her in Okina this weekend. She didn't say another word about him and Naoto.

Naoto figured she would be having an easier day than Kanji, since she had no guardians to answer to in Inaba. She took a long shower and drank a cup of coffee, thinking about Kanji and how happy she was. I never thought I would feel this way about anyone. She couldn't stop smiling. After she sent a couple of texts to make sure he was alright, and let him know she was thinking about him, she decided to walk down to the bookstore. A lazy morning doing things she actually enjoyed felt really nice. She loved looking through the stacks of books. Just the smell of so many books in the same place made her smile. She tried not to think about how close she was to Kanji's house. There was no way she was going to face his mother today. That was his problem for the moment. She laughed to herself, then turned as she heard the bookstore's door open. No, Naoto was not going to have an easy day.

"Oh, Naoto-kun!" Rise squealed and bounced to her side. "I'm so happy I ran into you!"

"H-Hello, Rise-san." Naoto already felt flustered. She had no interest in having the conversation she suspected was about to happen.

"Soooo?! Tell me everything!" she exclaimed.

"Everything about what, Rise-san?" Naoto tried to pretend she didn't know what her friend was talking about.

"About you and Kanji-kun, of course! How did you two get together? Was it romantic when he asked you to be his girlfriend? Are you guys… you know?!"

That was a lot of questions. "W-We… it just s-sort of happened. A-And he hasn't asked me. To be his girlfriend. W-Was he supposed to?" she wondered out loud.

"Oh, not necessarily, I mean, it doesn't have to be that formal, you know? And you haven't answered my last question yet!" she said with a ridiculous grin.

"W-What?! T-That's none of your business, Rise-san!" she exclaimed, blushing bright red and feeling completely flustered.

"Oooohhh, I'm going to take that as a yes then!" she squealed with a wink.

"R-Rise-san!" she said, shocked.

"Oh, Naoto-kun, lighten up, I'm just teasing you," she said playfully. "Anyway, I'm really happy for you guys. You make a really cute couple."

"T-Thank you." Naoto had no idea what else to say.

"Well, I've gotta run! Don't worry Naoto-kun, I'll be sure to tell the others all the details for you. That way you won't have to have this conversation again!" She flashed a wicked smile and headed out of the store.

"W-Wait! Rise-san!" But she was already gone. Naoto sighed. She loved her friends. And sometimes, she really hated them.

Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and her eyes lit up when she saw who was calling.

"Kanji," she said warmly.

"Hey, Naoto," he said, a smile in his voice.

"Did everything go alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. Where are you right now? I want to see you," he said.

"I'm at the bookstore," she answered, smiling again. He wants to see me.

"Meet me at the shrine?" He was reluctant to ask her to come to the shop. Ma would be there, and he didn't want Naoto to feel uncomfortable. Another time, he would invite her over. For now, he just wanted to get away from there, and be with her.

"I'll be right there," she answered.