Me again! I hope you enjoyed the last two updates, especially chapter 9. That one I enjoyed writing. I'm basically using this fanfic to help get rid of stress; as I have discovered a website where every 100 words you get a cute picture of a kitten. It is called . It definitely helps motivate me to write! This chapter we are returning to Uru's POV, although I might switch again sometime in the future, I don't know as of yet. I hope you're all enjoying so far, and this chapter marks the start of an actual coherent timeline! YAYS!

Chapter 10: Onigiri

I woke up feeling nothing but pain. Everything hurt me, the light, the sound of the alarm that was shrieking in my ear, and trying to sit up to cradle my head in my hands. I looked over to my right, to see where the alarm was so I could silence it. I looked down and noticed a half-naked Ichirou tangled in my blankets.

"What the-What did I do last night?" I couldn't think with all the noise, so I leaned over Ichirou, trying not to touch him, and whacked the snooze button. The shrieking stopped, and I had to laugh at the fact that Ichirou could sleep through that as well. I paused for a moment then, trying to remember what happened last night. I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything with Ichirou, and I know he wouldn't "take advantage of me" as my father put it. My mouth was dry and my head was beginning to pound now, so I slid out of bed and went to get a glass of water from the kitchen. As I guzzled it down, I realized I couldn't remember much after singing one song at karaoke. I noticed the time on the kitchen clock and realized I had class in 45 minutes. I groaned, and quickly grabbed some food and brought it back to the bedroom, shoving some in Ichirou's mouth to wake him up and eating some myself, hoping it would help with my headache.

"Mornin' Uru. How's your head?" Ichirou drowsily sat up as I hurriedly threw a shirt and some jeans on. He watched for a second, and when I realized he was fully awake I pelted him with all of my questions.

"It's killing me and I can't remember why. What did I do last night? All I remember is the one song of karaoke and then...nothing."

"That would be because you drank too much. Kanda-kun gave you sake and some mixed drinks," Ichirou explained with a look of disgust on his face. "I took you home. Sou wanted to, but I had decided you'd had enough fun for one night."

"Is that really all that happened? Is what I have right now called a, a, hangover?"

"Yes Uru, you have a hangover. And don't worry, nothing happened last night." Ichirou smiled, and stood up to stretch. I noticed he was wearing nothing but his boxers, and I made a little noise turning red as I averted my eyes.

"Ichirou! Put on some clothes please! We have class in-" I glanced quickly at the alarm clock, trying to avoid looking at him, "In 35 minutes! We're going to be late!" Ichirou laughed and I heard him shuffling around behind me.

"You can turn around now," he said. I turned, and saw he still didn't have on a shirt. I blushed again, and Ichirou smirked. I sighed.

"We don't have time, here," I spotted his button up shirt on my side of the room, "Put this on." I grabbed it and brought it to him. He held up his sleeves like he wanted me to put it on him. I shook my head. "Ichirou, I'm not your mom! Put it on already!" He took the shirt from me, sliding it over each arm carefully. I tried not to notice how, well, manly he was. Being embarrassed was not helping my headache or my temper. Ichirou noticed.

"Uru, if you help me button it up we'll be able to leave faster," he said, and started buttoning the top buttons. I heaved a sigh and got closer .I reached out and started to help Ichirou button up his shirt, fumbling ever so slightly when I realized how warm he was and how close. I concentrated on nothing but the buttons then, so I was shocked when our hands met in the middle. Ichirou grabbed mine before I could move them away. I raised my head to look at him and he beamed dazzlingly at me. I yanked my hands away, flustered by the fact that he was touching me for some reason. Ichirou smiled even brighter. "Let's get you some headache medicine, and then we'll leave for class." He walked away as I grabbed my backpack and wondered why he seemed so happy. As my head throbbed, I decided to stop thinking and go take some medicine. Today was going to be a long day.

By the time I exited my last class, I wanted nothing more than to crawl back to my apartment and sleep for forever. I grabbed my bag and staggered out the door, trying to figure out how I was going to make it through work today.

"Uru, what are you doing?" Hana-chan walked beside me, handing me a can of tea. "Drink this. There is no way you are going to be able to work today. You've never even had a hangover before, have you?"

"I'll be fine. I can't miss work. There's no way. I'll make it through, don't worry about me." Hana-chan shook her head at me.

"Drink the tea; you're going to need it. Have Ichirou carry your bag, you'll need the strength." Hana-chan stopped me, forcibly taking my bag and handing it to Ichirou behind me, who I hadn't seen.

"Uru, I'll help you out at work today too, okay? Although I'm sure Manager wouldn't mind if you took one day off," Ichirou patted my head even as I shook it in disagreement.

"I can handle it. I don't want to not go to work because I made a stupid mistake."

"From what Ichirou says, it wasn't entirely your fault," Hana-chan said as we walked out towards the front gate.

"Well I really should've checked and-" I paused when I saw a familiar figure near the gate. "Sou-kun?" I said incredulously, and Hana-chan and Ichirou turned to stare. Sou perked up when he noticed us walking towards him.

"Uru!" he exclaimed and walked toward me.

"Sou! What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, I just have a little headache," I said, and Hana-chan laughed.

"Little? You've had at least 10 pills for headaches today!" Sou looked concerned, and I frowned at Hana-chan.

"Well, they helped, didn't they?" I drank some of my tea before continuing, "So everything is fine!"

"Uru, I'm sorry. Anyway, I'm here to make it up to you!" Sou said, "I'm going to walk with you to Cafe Bonheur first, though." He started walking in the same direction. Ichirou shrugged and started walking I waved goodbye to Hana-chan and rushed to catch up. After about 10 minutes of walking in awkward silence, I decided to try and start a conversation.

"So Sou, how did the gokon end? Did everything end up okay despite my, well, leaving early?" I tried to picture everyone's reactions as Ichirou had described them to me. I was going to be too shamed to show my face near any of them for a while.

"It ended up okay. Kanda was upset that I didn't get a date, but I told him that I didn't want one so I ended up being happier than if his stupid plan had worked out to begin with."

"Oh. You still don't have a girlfriend, Sou?" Sou seemed startled that I had asked him the question, and he hid his face from my view.

"No, I don't," he replied, and another awkward silence filled the gap. The lull lasted until we reached the doors of the shop, where Sou told me to wait for my surprise. I stood there for a moment, glancing at Ichirou who was glaring at the door with an intense aura. I decided he wasn't up for conversation. I counted to 10 before opening the door, only to see Sou in an apron holding a box in his hands.

"Sou? What are you doing?"

"Repaying you. I'm working in your place today. Oh and here." He handed me the box. I opened it to find two well-formed onigiri, rice balls, nestled in some wrappings. "My dad says onigiri are good for hangovers. I don't know if it's true or not, but I do know you haven't been eating. So please have a seat and enjoy!" Sou gestured towards the front counter, but I shook my head.

"Sou, I'm supposed to work and-" Manager held up a hand and interrupted me.

"Uru, you've been working non-stop. Please just relax this once?" I opened my mouth to protest, but Ichirou covered it with his hand.

"Be a good girl and accept their kindness." I sighed, plopping myself onto one of the stools before taking a bite of the onigiri. I was surprised at how delicious it tasted, and how much I had needed food. I put it down and turned to Sou, who was standing next to me. I gave him a squeeze, trying to control my strength, but he made an uncomfortable noise and I let go.

"Thank you very much Sou! They're delicious!" I bit into another one happily, not paying close attention to Sou's reaction. Ichirou, however, came over, and grabbing my face, licked off some rice grains I hadn't noticed were sticking to me. I turned a shade between fuchsia and red as Sou sputtered and I pushed Ichirou away in shame.

"You missed some," Ichirou said, licking his lips.

"I-if you're hungry I have snacks," I managed to squeak out, passing a candy from my pocket to Ichirou. Ichirou took my wrist in his hand, snatching the candy and placing a quick kiss before releasing me. "Wh-what-Ichirou-" I was flustered I almost lost my balance and fell of the stool. Ichirou ignored me and turned to face Sou, who looked as embarrassed as I was although he had something darker in his eyes.

"Leave her alone, Nishikawa. She doesn't need your harassment right now."

"This isn't harassment. I've decided not to hold back anymore. You should probably do the same. Consider this your warning," Ichirou said as he grabbed an extra rag from the counter. Sou nodded, and Ichirou went to serve his table.

"Um, what was that about?" I asked Sou when I was certain that Ichirou was out of earshot.

"Ichirou just challenged me."

"To what?" Sou blushed a little, but straightened his shoulders as he looked at me.

"You can't know, not yet. But you'll find out eventually." Sou then left to go serve a couple who had just walked in. I was left at the counter extremely confused. I sighed, deciding that they would tell me on their own and went back to my onigiri. I was sure I'd get the truth out of them somehow.

At the end of the evening, I was fuming. Sou and Ichirou hadn't let me help once, and I felt useless just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. And now I owed Sou a favor as well. So when Sou approached me to ask a favor, I was relieved.

"Uru, I was wondering if you'd do me a huge favor?"

"Sure, anything. What do you want?" I asked eagerly, surprising him with my enthusiasm.

"Would you go shopping with me this Thursday? Around 2? I have to do the shopping for my café but I don't want to go alone, and I have to pick up Sakura from school too." I perked up upon hearing Sakura-chan's name.

"I'd love to! I miss Sakura-chan!" I said, and Sou smiled.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. Meet me outside the shop, alright?" he said, and then left the shop. I was happy I'd have a chance to repay my debt so soon and see Sakura-chan in the meantime. Suddenly I wasn't angry anymore, but instead was looking forward to the rest of the week.

I might not update for a while after this, as inspiration struck for another fanfic and I might spend some time with that one as well. I will be having Spring Break soon, so I'll hopefully have more time to write with any luck. I think these past two weeks is the most I've updated in a row in a long time. I hope you all are enjoying the story, and if you have any suggestions for a story arc, or a situation between Uru and ANY of the other characters, put it in a review for me and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading!