Author's notes: Sorry for the wait. I hope you all will forgive me seeing as this chapter is twice as long as most of the previous ones. Please enjoy and review. I always smile when I see I got a review.

Chapter 10

It seemed as if Kanji couldn't sit still the whole ride to Naoto's house. Every few moments he would re-adjust his seat belt, or cross then uncross his legs. At one point he started to tap his fingers on his knee against the unfamiliar fabric of his dress pants.

Tatsumi-san smiles and reaches over and grabs Kanji's hand. "Sweetie, just relax."

"I am relaxed…. What makes you think I'm not relaxed?"

His mother smiles and pats the back of Kanji's hand. "Just be yourself. No need to be nervous, Naoto-san is already your friend. You don't need to impress her."

"I'm not trying to impress anyone!"

"Really?" His mother says, raising her eyebrows.

Kanji looks away from his mother and runs his hand through his hair. "Maybe, just a little."

She just smiles at her son then looks out the window. "Oh my," She says, as they pull up to a tall iron gate. The driver rolls down his window and punches in the security code and the gate swings open. "I knew your friend was rich, but I didn't realize how rich." She whispers to her son.

Kanji swallows the knot in his throat, "Me either."

Upstairs Naoto re-buttons her shirt and flattens it out across her front. She hadn't wrapped her chest as tight as she usually does, so she is able to breathe easier, yet that also means that she still has a feminine curve to her. Sighing Naoto went to her closet and pulled out her winter jacket that she often wore. Pulling the dark fabric on over her shirt she looked back into the mirror. Much better, she thought. She then buttoned up just two of the middle buttons, just enough to help hide her figure. She glances once more at her hat sitting on her dresser next to the bear Kanji had made for her. She looks back at the mirror, fiddles with the headband once more before turning and walking out of her room.

As she is heading down the stairs she hears her Grandfather greeting Kanji and his mother. As she turns the corner she stops short. Kanji isn't wearing his normal clothes. In fact she has never seen him wear anything so formal. She shakes her head and then walks the few paces to stand near her grandfather.

"If you let Jin take your coats," He says. "I'll show you the way to the library for a bit before we eat." Her grandfather turns and sees Naoto. "There you are. Why are you wearing your coat? It is warm enough. Jin, take Naoto's coat while you're at it."

"That won't be necessary." Naoto protests, "I'm fine."

Her grandfather waves her protests away. "Don't be ridiculous, if you're cold I'll just have them turn the heat up a bit."

With reluctance Naoto lets the butler take her coat to put away. Her grandfather seems oblivious to Naoto's blush and obvious discomfort as he leads Tatsumi-san towards the library. Naoto dares to glance up at Kanji. His face is flushed as well and he is looking at Naoto as if she has sprouted a second head. After catching Naoto's eye his blush deepens and he looks away, running his fingers threw his hair and following his mother.

Naoto follows a step behind Kanji, one of her her arms across her chest tugging at the sleeve of her other arm. Naoto can hear her Grandfather talking to Tatsumi-san about their new country estate with all the modern conveniences.

"Well, I uh…." Kanji starts to say, then glances down at Naoto only to look away again. "Well I think you know…. You look nice….Not to say you don't look nice all the time…. It's just…. Well you look pretty today."

"Thank you Kanji-kun." Naoto says, her blush deepening. "I'm trying out something new."

"Uh…. Yeah… it looks good." As they reach the library Kanji's jaw drops at the sight of all the books. "whoa, I didn't think anyone had this many book in their house."

Naoto smiles and looks around at the many bookshelves. "This library is nothing compared to the one at our main estate. This one is mostly leisure reading, classics, mysteries, and a few other topics. Not nearly as many reference volumes as we have at our other library."

"Quite right." Her grandfather says as he helps Tatsumi-san sit down next to an antique marble chess set. "This place was built as a retreat for our family in-between cases, a place to unwind. By the way, it is your move, my dear." He says, pointing to the table with the chess set.

Naoto smiles, and puts her hands behind her back as she studies the game board; her mind now totally on how to solve the puzzle before her. She moves her black knight and looks up at her grandfather. "Check!"

A grin spreads across the old man's face, "You are getting better." He reaches down and moves his bishop from all the way across the board to take her knight. "But you still have yet to beat me. Checkmate."

Startled, Naoto looks down at the game to find that indeed her king is in checkmate. She looks back up at her grandfather. "Good game." She says with a nod.

Shirogane-san looks over at Kanji's mother. "Do either of you play?"

Tatsumi-san smiles, "I learned how to years ago, but I was never any good at it. I don't think Kanji-kun knows how."

Kanji shakes his head. "Naw, I ain't never played."

Shirogane-san raises his eyebrow. "Well perhaps then I can show Tatsumi-san around until dinner is ready, and you can show Kanji-san some of your favorite books, or maybe show him how to play."

Naoto opens her mouth to protest this idea, only to have her grandfather wave her objections aside and take Tatsumi-san by the hand and lead her out of the room.

"Well, uh…." Kanji says, rubbing the back of his head and looking around the library. "I can sure try playing, but don't know how good I'd be."

Naoto smiles weakly up at Kanji as she sets up the game board. "You'll never know unless you try."

Kanji shrugs, and sits down across from Naoto. "Well how do ya play?"

After Naoto explained the basic rules and how each piece moves they started. After ten minutes Kanji was rubbing the back of his neck in frustration and muttering under his breath. Naoto smiles up at him and says. "You know we don't have to play chess. This game isn't for everyone."

"Yeah, well I understand all the rules and what not. I can even see how I could get your king, but then ya go and move one of your guys and it messes my whole idea up." Kanji sighs, and puts his head down. "I guess I'm just not smart enough."

"I would disagree. It has nothing to do with being smart enough. I'm smart, but I've never been able to beat my grandfather."

Kanji lifts his head to look up at her. "Really? If you always lose, why do you keep playing?"

"Because sometimes the fun isn't in winning, I have fun trying to solve the puzzle. Plus there is always the chance that I may be able to trick grandfather and win."

"Yeah I guess." Kanji shrugs.

"You know, you are doing well for someone who just learned the game today. If you played with someone who also just started you may surprise yourself at how well you do."

Kanji shrugs again. "I 'dunno."

As Kanji reaches up to move his rook the door opens and in comes Naoto's grandfather leading Tatsumi-san. "And here we are back at the Library."

"Did you enjoy your tour Tatsumi-san?" Naoto asks.

"Yes, you have quite a place here. Kanji and I aren't use to so many western conveniences. I am nearly overwhelmed."

Naoto smiles and stand up to let Tatsumi-san have her chair. "I hope that Grandfather didn't talk too much. He has a habit of just talking and talking."

"Oh Shirogane-san is a perfect gentlemen and a wonderful host. How about you two? Did you enjoy your chess game?"

"I did," Naoto says. "But I think Kanji-kun has just gotten frustrated."

Naoto looks over at Kanji who is once again absorbed in the game. He reaches over and touches one piece as if to move it, yet pulls his hand back to touch another piece, changing his mind several times. Shirogane-san points to one of the pieces that Kanji has been debating between. "I think you should move that one."

Kanji looks up at Shirogane-san and then back to the board before moving the piece. "Thanks."

"No trouble at all."

Just as Naoto starts to study the board the butler opens the door. "Dinner is served."

"Well then, right this way." Shirogane-san says, ushering in his guests through the doorway. "I do hope that you'll enjoy what my chef has prepared this evening."

"I'm sure it will be wonderful." Tatsumi-san says.

When they got to the western style table Kanji was proud of his restraint, he didn't just plop down in a chair and start shoveling food into his mouth, as he would at home. He waited till his mom was sitting before sitting down next to her. The table was full of food, spring rolls, gyozas, sushi rolls, tempura veggies, udon noodles, teriyaki beef and more. Kanji's mouth was watering. He only just barely remembered his manners and started to eat, at a painfully slow pace according to him.

"Oh my this is so much," Kanji heard his mother say.

Shirogane-san just waves aside her protests, insisting it is his pleasure. They continue with the small talk as they eat, which Kanji ignores, trying to enjoy his food, but not to eat 'like a wild animal' as he has been accused of doing in the past. He glances up at Naoto every once in a while. She only seems to be picking at her food, and listening to the small talk that Tatsumi-san and Shirogane-san seem to have going. But Kanji's attention suddenly focuses on his mother when he hears his name.

"Oh when Kanji-chan was little he would always hang around my workroom and play with all my left over fabric."

"MAA…" Kanji says, trying to get her to stop.

"In fact when he was five or six he managed to make-"

"MA!"

"Kanji-chan, don't interrupt, it's rude. Well he made a blanket from left over fabric for me for Mother's day. It was beautiful."

"Dang it ma!" Kanji complains, trying to hide behind his hand, or sink into the floor, or anything.

"It was mismatched colors, uneven and crooked stitching, yet it is one of my most treasured gifts. I still have it tucked away in a drawer."

"Mom, please stop…." Kanji whispers to her urgently.

"That reminds me of Naoto-kun when she was little," Shirogane-san starts to say.

Suddenly Kanji is listening, very interested in what is being said. Naoto however has a blush across her face and is trying to whisper to her grandfather to get him to stop.

"…she made several little tools that would be very useful for an ace detective. They were quite clever. She made a knife that is really a radio, a pen that also has a mini telescope on it and she even modified her wrist watch. She has always been good with trinkets."

"Grandfather, I really think that is enough." Naoto says.

Yet he acts as if he did not hear Naoto's plea, and continues. "She has always known that she wanted to continue our family and become the next great Shirogane detective."

"Oh yes," Kanji's mother says. "Our shop has been going for generations. I think Kanji-chan knows everything he needs to in order to take it over. He just needs to quit scarring the customers."

"Ma!" Kanji complains.

"It's true dear," She says, patting Kanji's hand. "You went through our inventory last month and did all the reordering from our suppliers."

Kanji looks down at his plate, suddenly feeling sick. He looks across the table at Naoto, who is blushing, yet still trying to stop her Grandfather from talking.

"Well of course Naoto-kun is already taking on cases by herself. Many still disregard her theories due to her youth, but in the end they are almost always the ones who are mistaken. She has even been able to pass all the national tests for school, even though she spends most of her time working on mysteries with me, or on her own."

Tatsumi-san nods. "Since Kanji has become friends with Naoto-kun and the other kids he has been doing much better in school. I always knew he'd do well if he applied himself."

"Please ma…..no…." Kanji whispers. Bragging about my school work ain't gunna get ya much... Kanji thinks.

"Tatsumi-san!" Naoto says, "How is your shop doing? I know that many of the stores in the shopping district went out of business when Junes came to town." Naoto smiles across at Kanji, thinking that she has gotten onto a safe topic of conversation.

"We are doing well. For a while I was afraid we might not be able to keep the shop open, but lately we've been doing much better. People have realized that they can't get the quality from Junes that they get from our store. Plus since Kanji-chan has been making animal dolls for our shop, sells have gone up quite a lot."

Kanji sighs in defeat, and looks down at his plate, a blush across his cheeks. He starts picking at his meal again, glancing up at Naoto and her grandfather every once in a while. The adults went from topic to topic, hardly stopping to eat. At least they've stopped talking about us. Kanji thinks. As far as Kanji could tell they moved onto the economics of a small town. Not that he was really paying much attention.

He glanced over at Naoto. She seemed to be listening to the conversation, yet he could tell from the way she kept readjusting her seat, and reaching for her hat, which wasn't there, that she was uncomfortable, and not into the conversation. Now that he started to look at her, he couldn't pull his eyes away. She always looked wonderful to his eyes. Somehow she looked more….. well… more like a girl today. Maybe it was the hairband. His eye's glance down her frame and he notices that she seems to have more…. Curves. He blushes slightly, then when his eyes trail up to her face once more he realizes that she is now looking at him. His blush deepens and he looks at his plate.

Naoto clears her throat and Kanji is sure he is going to be yelled at. However Naoto says. "Grandfather would it be alright with you if Kanji-kun and I go into the other room."

"Of course that is fine my dear." He says, with a vague wave of his hand.

Naoto stands and heads out of the room, Kanji fallows, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the floor. At least she isn't going to yell at me in front of everyone. Kanji can't help but think. He keeps his eyes on her shoes in front of him, not noticing where they are going. He startles to a halt when Naoto starts to go up the stairs. He glances up, only to see Naoto's backside bounce slightly as she climbs the stairs. Kanji's face turns crimson and he looks back down at the stairs. He holds onto the handrail for support and follows Naoto up the stairs. "Uh…. So….. uh….. Where are we going?"

"To my drawing room."

"huh?"

Kanji follows Naoto to a small room with a couch, a few armchairs, a coffee table and a few bookshelves. "I'm sorry I should have asked if you were finished eating."

"I'm…. Uh… I'm full." Kanji says. My stomach is so full of butterflies I couldn't eat another bite. He can't help but think.

Naoto nods and points to the group of armchairs. "Have a seat, I'll be back in a moment." She walks through a door opposite the one they came in and shuts the door firmly behind her.

Kanji sits on the edge one of the armchairs, and starts to twiddle his thumbs and wonder if Naoto is mad at him. He doesn't have to wait long before Naoto comes back out, wearing her hat and her school jacket. She finishes buttoning up her jacket as she walks through the door, then looks up at Kanji, with a small smile.

"I figured you were just as uncomfortable down there as I was." She says, sitting down in an armchair.

Kanji sits back into his chair, feeling slightly better. "Uh… Yeah. I hate when Ma starts talk about when I was little."

Naoto smiles, "I totally understand. They may start talking about us again, but at least now we don't have to listen to it."

Kanji smiles over at Naoto. Seeing her back in her usual clothes is oddly comforting to him. She also seems much more at ease now that she is wearing her signature hat again. "So uh…." Kanji says. "What have you been up to?"

"I have been going over the file on the murder/kidnapping case, helping the police build a case against Adachi. We cannot get any of the kidnappings charges to stick on him, even though he influenced Namatame into doing so. However with the double homicide we can be sure he will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison."

"Well…. That's good….. I mean Namatame thought he was doing the right thing when he kidnapped us all. But what I meant was… I was meaning….. what have you been doing for fun?"

"For fun? I usually read in my leisure time, but that can be time consuming. Plus I haven't found any mystery novels that have interested me lately, at least ones I haven't already read. That's the thing about liking the classics I suppose. After you read all of them, there won't be any new ones that come out."

Kanji shrugs, "Yeah I guess."

"Do you read much?"

"Naw, I read some manga, and magazines, but I ain't been much for reading."

Naoto nods. "I see. So how did you get started making the stuffed animals?"

Kanji runs his hand through the back of his hair. "Well I uh…. This kid was crying by the river, cuz he had lost some girl's toy bunny. I tried to help him find it, when we couldn't, I… sorta told him I'd make him one. Then his mom wanted one, and the girl's mom wanted one and their school teacher. Before I knew it I was taking orders for all kinds of animals. And well…. Yeah. At first I didn't want people to know I was making them, but once word got around people started to come to the shop asking to get one."

Naoto smiles, "That was really sweet of you."

Kanji blushes and looks away. "Well I uh…. Hate to see a kid cry….ya know….Plus he uh….Well the kid kinda… well he reminded me of when I was little."

"How so?"

"Well…. I uh…. You don't really wanna hear me talk about when I was a kid do ya? I mean if you wanna hear stories about when I was a kid we could always go back down stairs and listen to my ma…."

Naoto smiles a small smile and takes a deep breath. "Kanji-kun, I want to get to know you better. I want to understand you. Quite frankly you are somewhat of a puzzle to me. You are very talented, yet very few people know it. You have a reputation for being a thug, and you often dress and act that way. Yet I have seen you do some really nice things for others. I know you better than most people, however I still feel as if I don't really know you."

"I uh…" Kanji stands and looks away from Naoto and rubs the back of his neck. "Well I… I uh…. I really don't know what to say."

"How about you answer me this? Why the over embellished tough-guy façade?"

"Say what?" Kanji asks, turning back around.

"Why did you start bleaching your hair, and acting like a thug?"

"Oh… that…. Well when I was…. Younger… I uh…. Well when kids found out that I liked to sew and whatnot…. I got made fun of. So I uh…. Well I sorta… I figured if they were afraid of me then they wouldn't make fun of me anymore."

"I see. I suppose you could say we are similar in that fashion."

"What do ya mean?"

"You were afraid of how people would react to your interests not fitting your gender type role. So you pushed people away and hid your talent. I was also afraid of the same thing, so I also pushed people away and hid who I was." Naoto looks down and smiles slightly. "Who would have thought we'd have something like that in common?"

Kanji shrugs and sits back down, in the chair next to Naoto. "Yeah… I guess we both just… you know… don't want to be judged by what other people think we should do."

Naoto nods. "That is quiet true."

"Ya know, I've been talking to Senpai a lot lately. About this kinda stuff… and what all. I made two rules for myself. I haven't been the best at keeping em though."

"What would those rules be?"

"Rule one: Be myself. Rule two: Get people to understand….. sounds simple, yet I kinda end up falling into old habits. Telling people to 'get bent' if they don't understand me, or whatever."

Naoto nods. "I'm glad to hear that you're progressing. I also can understand how hard it is to break a habit." Naoto looks down at her lap and tugs at her jacket. A knock sounds from the door and they both look up. "Yes?" Naoto calls.

Her grandfather peaks his head into the room before pushing the door open further. "Ah, here you are? Tatsumi-san said that she needs to be getting back now. Kanji-san, you are welcome to stay longer if you wish."

Kanji stands and rubs the back of his neck. "Naw, I wouldn't wanna be trouble or anything."

"No trouble at all." Shirogane-san insists.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening." Tatsumi-san says, as they start to parade down the stairs.

"Our pleasure, we don't get too many visitors, so it is fun to have people come over, who don't want us to solve a mystery of some sort."

Kanji and Naoto follow down the stairs; Kanji keeping his eyes on the floor, while Naoto glances around. "I uh….. suppose I'll see ya later." Kanji manages to say, as he pulls on his coat.

Naoto just nods.

"So I uh….. I'll….uh…. Call ya later."

"Alright. Farewell Kanji-kun."

With the pleasantries over, Kanji and his mother get back into the car. Naoto watches a moment as they drive away before turning to go back into her warm house. After she closes the door she turns to see her Grandfather grinning down at her. "That went well." She says, before walking past him.

"How about we go to the library?"

"Alright." Naoto says, turning to head to the big room.

"I think that I will take over Kanji-san's pieces in your chess game. I want to see how well you do." the older man remarks, sitting down at the table with the chess board.

Naoto nods, moving a piece as she sits down. "Want to try a new challenge?"

"Maybe." He says, moving one of his pieces. "Over my years as a detective I've come to realize that there is more to people than meets the eye."

"Is that so?" Naoto says studying the board for a moment before moving her piece.

"I've glanced over the Inaba file you've put together. Several individuals in this case were not as they first appeared."

Naoto nods, "Yes, Namatame's and Adachi's involvement in this case came as quiet a surprise."

Her grandfather looks across the board with a knowing smile and silently moves a piece. "Logical thinking, and planning ahead with the end result in mind is needed for many seemingly ordinary tasks."

Naoto looks up from the board, confused as to where this conversation is going. She moves her piece. "Yes, that is true."

"Such as in chess, and sewing." He moves a piece. "Checkmate."

Naoto looks down at the board in shock. "Huh?"

"Your friend set up the pieces pretty well, especially for a beginner. I think there is a lot more to that young man than meets the eye." Shirogane-san says leaving the room, with Naoto looking down at the chess board in shock.