Ayyy, new chapter! Though did I say Haru was going to be in this chapter? Because…whoops? I might have lied?

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Sender: Takara

Ayy, you make it in one piece?

From: Enma

I'm not a kid, Takara. I can handle getting on and off transportation.

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"So, by handling," I surreptitiously poked at a rather fresh looking bandage on Enma's face, grinning as he flushed, "You meant you handled the concrete with your face, right?"

"Someone bumped into me," his hand came up to cover the bandage as he weakly protested, "It wasn't like I tripped on nothing."

It was a strange but beautiful Sunday – it was also a rather convenient one, somehow. Enma's sudden visit had come at an eerily perfect time, as I'd heard Gokudera floundering around town this morning searching for Tsuna and Reborn, as Reborn had apparently decided to take Tsuna off somewhere. Which meant Enma wouldn't run into Tsuna and Reborn wouldn't run into Enma, though I found it hard to imagine Reborn didn't already somehow know about my relationship to Enma (though whether he knew about the Shimon Famiglia was beyond me).

"Right, okay. So," I felt my nose scrunch up as I grinned, "What brought upon this visit to good 'ole Namimori?"

Enma returned my grin with a soft smile of his own, a small dimple making itself known on his right cheek, "Things have been stressful back home; Adel and some of the others are kind of…antsy? I guess."

"Ahh, I see," I placed a hand to my chest and slouched back, "They must be arguing over their feelings for you. Who gets first dibs and what-not."

A strange half-choke-half-laugh sound came from Enma as his eyes widened and his shoulders shook – a strange amalgamation of emotions crossing his face at once. So many that I couldn't quite identify them all, but a few were fairly prominent – horror and amusement being the most obvious two. But there was something else – conflict. Enma seemed, just for a moment, like he was at odds with himself over something, though happiness and embarrassment were at the forefront thankfully enough.

"Seriously though." I grasped his wrist, laughing through my words as I tugged him forward, "I'm glad you came here; that I can be of use to relieve your stress."

At that I turned my head to waggle my eyebrows, and for a moment Enma just stared. Then he froze, pulling us both to a stop as he obtained the skin complexion of a cherry –

"Takara."

I cackled, "Why, Enma, I didn't say anything wrong."

"You know exactly what you implied!"

"Oh? I implied something?"

"Takara."

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Having fish nibble at your feet is a strange sensation. For one it tickles, but also feels odd in a way you can't quite describe; it makes you want to laugh and shiver at the same time. Or maybe that was just me. Either way, it felt good to just dip my feet in the water, the sun pleasantly warming my skin and Enma next to me to offer company and conversation.

My shoulder bumped into his as I lifted one of my feet for inspection, which in turn sent droplets of water into the air to rain down upon us, "I swear that wasn't on porpoise."

"Your puns are as lame as ever," Enma wiped away a droplet from his cheek before his eyes slid over to look at me, his lips quirked ever so slightly and after a moment of hesitation –

"You should really do something a-boat that."

Laughter bubbled up from the bottom of my gut and I knocked into his shoulder after dropping my foot back into the water, this time dampening our legs ever so slightly with the splash. Enma himself wasn't laughing, but he was smiling with is head dipped down into his shoulders, hair concealing his eyes.

"Puns are my thing," my words came out breathless, the air in my lungs depleted from my laughter, "you're encroaching on my territory, Enma."

"Yeah? Well," he stumbled up, falling back on his butt as he grabbed his shoes, "what are you going to do about it? Send me to a watery grave?"

My cheeks puffed up, partly due to my efforts in holding back some snickers, as I scooped some water up in my hand before lashing out, the water smacking a rather surprised Enma in the face –

"I figured I otter do something about your insolence, you sea."

Enma sputtered, pushing back a few strands of damp hair and wiping the remaining drops from his face as I spun away, snickering. Said snickering was cut off by a rather high pitched squeak as something wet and cold struck my upper back, causing my shoulders and spine to momentarily seize. Once I spun around I was greeted with a mischievous grin, his hand still outstretched and dripping.

I pursed my lips – "Well played, my friend, well played."

A light dusting of red crossed his cheeks, one hand reaching up to rub the back of his head, "I learned from the best."

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After the river escapade and a short trip around the farmer's market – where he might or might not have tripped and bruised some apples – I was in the process of tugging Enma along to Takesushi so he could experience the wonder that was my tou-chan's cooking. Though he seemed rather nervous now; more withdrawn.

And I wasn't too surprised – Enma was withdrawn at first; he had been with me. He was with Tsuna too, from what I remembered, but then he had also looked somewhat like a kicked puppy, which made my heart squeeze painfully just thinking about. Because I could, very possibly, stop that from happening if I said something. But if I did, what would happen to the plot? What would Enma –

"Oh? Yamamoto-chan?" Cue one distraction in the form of one Sawada Nana, "You're Lambo-kun's friend, neh? Tsu-kun's classmate?"

Then came the obnoxious laughter of one fro'd child –

"Ararara! Lambo-san's henchman has made an appearance?"

It was in this moment that I realized Nana didn't know I was Tsuna's friend, as I had yet to visit the Sawada household with Tsuna – I'd only made contact as Tsuna's classmate and Lambo's sort-of friend.

It was also in this moment I was oh, so very ready to get down and flick the child, but Nana wouldn't really appreciate it. Though that mild irritation turned into vaguely concealed chortles as Enma almost reverently whispered 'Cow-child' under his breath, my tongue pressed against the back of my teeth as I grinned.

"That's right," the laughter was pushed back, but still fluttering about in the pit of my stomach, "it's nice to see you, Nana-san. This is my friend Enma; Enma, Sawada Nana-san."

Enma dipped his head, "Kozato Enma, ma'am. It's, um, nice to meet you."

"Ah, so polite! So nice to meet you, Kozato-kun!"

Tired of being ignored, Lambo jumped up into the air, flailing about before hitting the ground and repeating the process, striking a pose once he got the attention he was seeking –

"I am the great Lambo-san! You can be my new henchman!"

Enma seemed a bit stunned – not quite overwhelmed – at the development, even more so as Nana just commented on how happy she was that Lambo had found a new friend. Lambo was just happy to have attention, and to once again get his way. As, somehow, Enma and I ended up saddled with the kid as Nana made her way home –

"Tou-chan will be glad to have a little kid guzzling down sushi again. I'll be sure to tell him to use plenty of seaweed so the Great Lambo-san can graze."

A barely concealed snort came from Enma's direction and Lambo just narrowed his eyes at me, and I could quite honestly almost see the gears turning in his head as he processed what I said. That is, until he stuck a finger up his nose –

"Keep that finger up your nose and I'll slather your sushi in wasabi."

"Takara!" Enma's voice was amused and somewhat rebuking, but he wasn't at all surprised form what I could tell, "Should you really be treating the kid like that?"

Lambo, who had jerked his finger from his nose at the threat suddenly perked up before scaling a now flustered Enma like he was a building –

"That's right! Takara should listen to the red-haired henchman!"

"Don't pee your pants every couple of days and maybe that has a chance of happening."

To be quite honest, Lambo looked slightly cowed at that before the look faded away into semi-confident, semi-embarrassed laughter. By the time he seemed ready to make a comeback I was already on the move, leaving him to 'encourage' the 'red-haired lackey' to go faster, which left Enma to follow along with an awkward sort of look on his face. It left me thinking that kids were something that left Enma a little flummoxed, as he was generally kind of awkward around the twins too.

"The red-haired henchman's hair is very soft," Lambo's hands came down somewhat harshly on Enma's head and I winced as he did, "But he has many bandages."

My response was automatic –

"He's a mummy, that's why. The living dead."

Lambo practically seized as he flung himself from Enma's head and into my chest, his head turning slowly with wide eyes, his voice haunted, "Is the monster trying to hurt Takara and Lambo-san? Be gone, monster!"

I snorted an Enma flushed, "I'm not a monster, Lambo-kun. I – I just fall… a lot."

"Like Dame-Tsuna."

The look Enma gave me made me feel like I had kicked a puppy; his sad face was better than any other that I'd seen. Though whether I should be impressed by hat or not I wasn't sure; I was kind of jealous though, because I couldn't pull off the innocent look anywhere near that well. And as he stared me down, shoulders hunched, eyes glistening, and slightly pouting I couldn't help but to throw him a bone –

"Lambo-san should be nice to Enma, or the Great Takara will eat sushi in front of you and give you none of it."

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It was just as the sun was starting to go down that the two of us made our way back to the station, Enma with his hands stuffed in his pockets and me with a sleeping Lambo clinging to my shoulder (though how the kid managed it, I didn't know. I was just glad he wasn't snoring). And it left me feeling content, but also a bit upset. After all, Enma was leaving, so it would be back to just texting instead of hanging out.

"Spacing out?" Enma tilted his head in my direction, "With such a serious look, too. What are you thinking about?"

I sent him a lopsided smile, "If I said I was worried about my math test results, would you believe me?"

He laughed. "Not a chance. You could care less about that."

Which was true, though mostly because I knew that I didn't flunk it. I knew I had passed it, with an A or a B at least. Even if I had failed I probably wouldn't have it in me to care that much about it either. The fact that Enma knew that really spoke volumes, as the only others that knew me that well were tou-chan, Hana, and Kyoko. Everyone else would probably go along with that excuse no problem.

"Takara –"

"I'm just kind of sad today is ending," I shrugged my shoulders, the still napping Lambo grumbling something about an earthquake, "You are kind of my best friend, you know?"

Enma made a noise of surprise, though I was looking up instead of in his direction, "I – you're kind of m-my best friend too."

At that I turned my cheery grin to him, his face flushed slightly in embarrassment, my arms out and fingers wiggling as his train pulled up. He shuffled in place for a moment before giving me a quick hug, scratching his cheek as he pulled away –

"I'll visit again sometime. You should come visit Shinkawa again, too."

"I'll try my best to do just that." I gave him a mock salute as he approached the doors, "Here's hoping your friends won't be so antsy when you get home."

He paused, smiled. "They probably will be, but… I don't think it'll bug me all that much now."

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Takara's puns take on a new level of horrible when around Enma, can you tell? Also, Enma is kind of OOC here, isn't he? Though everyone has someone they can act differently around, I think. Takara and Enma are best friends, so when alone together this is kind of how he acts.

Does that make sense? xD;

Also, I wonder what the Shimon's are so antsy about…?