I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands.

I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving.

Rated 'M'

A/N: Apologies for the long delay. I have to work long hours again at my job which really, really sucks. I had to split this chapter in two parts because it had become too long and would have become complicated. THERE IS A LOT OF TECHNICAL STUFF IN THIS CHAPTER SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING SO I CAN CLARIFY IT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

I don't really know when next I'm going to post although I have most of the next chapter already done.

***I also want to thank the trolls who review my story anonymously. Even if you don't like it, you still read it and it feels great to know that I've managed to keep your attention despite this :D

GROWING PAINS Part 2

by chickypeg

Chapter 36: Bloodline

When Anna had first started to officially live at the Bar, it seemed that she might have had a more difficult time settling in than she had originally let on. When she had stayed with Izumo in his apartment, they slept in the same room as Izumo had moved his couch into the bedroom while allowing Anna to have the big bed all to herself.

Certainly, staying with her precious King ought to now make her feel safe.

But she stayed in a room that was separate from his. Most of the time, knowing he was only a wall away was enough.

But there might be times when she might awaken from a terrifying nightmare and she would search him out.

Mikoto could recall the times when he had first started awakening to seeing Anna's doll-like face somewhere close to his:

~Flashback~

Normally, he slept like a lion.

A dead lion.

A freak storm could appear and he might only stir a little.

Yet, for some reason he felt disturbed in his dreams as if some presence was there that was too strong for him to ignore.

He let out an annoyed huff and opened his eyes. Maybe some ghost had decided to appear in his room and freak the living hell out of him. Not that he would get frightened: he would probably just tell it to come back later when he was awake.

Sleep was very dear to the Red King after all.

Well, for a moment, what greeted his eyes did make him pause and wonder if it was truly a ghost.

But he quickly recognized the white hair and face of the small child who was standing beside the bed with an unwavering gaze on him.

He frowned and blinked sleepily.

Oh, it was only Anna. She was just a little girl but because of her abilities, her inner being was very powerful and that was why his sleep-which involved going into a deep mental state-was affected by her presence.

He reached out and lightly patted her head. She must have had a nightmare. She had been urged by Tatara to overcome any shyness she might have had regarding him if she ever felt scared. If she was frightened, then it was okay to go to Mikoto. He wouldn't mind.

In fact, he really was so unbothered by her presence that he immediately turned the other way and pulled his blanket up to his chin.

He was about to fall back asleep ever so quickly until he felt slight movements on the bed.

He reopened his eyes and saw that Anna was now kneeling on the bed beside him, still looking at him. He could claim that she was a weird kid, but then again, he wasn't normal either.

Releasing a soft sigh, he removed his blanket a little from on him and threw it over her head absently before he turned away once more to go back to sleep.

She felt safe here, right?

Well, it shouldn't be too big of a deal if she stayed once in a while. Not sleeping enough couldn't be good for a brat, could it? Even he got more moody than usual when he got less than twelve hours in.

Anna seemed to understand that he was letting her nap with him as she lay down and shifted the blanket more properly to her chin.

Mikoto remained relaxed when she cuddled up behind his warm, broad back. It was a small bed after all. Perhaps it was better that she held onto him lest she rolled off the bed.

A tiny hand gripped into his sleeping shirt as she leaned her cheek against him trustingly.

"Mikoto," she said softly.

He grunted in response because he felt too lazy to speak.

"Thank you."

He replied by lifting his hand and reaching behind him to pat her awkwardly. He actually ended up lightly patting her face but Anna didn't mind. She smiled softly when he replaced his hand in front of him while they both entered into a peaceful slumber.

~Flashback end~

There were times when Mikoto wished that he could go back to those days when his only main worry about Anna was whether or not she was able to sleep well. Over the past five or six years, she had found herself in situations where she could have gotten killed.

Thankfully, they weren't frequent occurrences, but when they happened, Mikoto always felt as though he had aged a little more than necessary.

In fact, it seemed that the moment they took for granted her ability to mind herself, someone swept her away into a life threatening situation.

The Red King was enraged right now.

Oh, he didn't outright roar like an angry lion. No, he was quietly seething. Inside of him was a swirling pool of violent red as he came to understand that once more, his mate was in danger. A volcano was erupting thick red angry lava inside of him. The only thing that prevented him from losing control of himself to his power was the fact that he knew that he could not break or there would be no way of saving Anna.

"I can't sense her," Mikoto told Izumo in a voice that was deceptively normal. Having known him for a long time, the bartender could tell how upset his friend really was by the slightly rough edge to his tone.

"You can't sense her?" Izumo repeated.

Mikoto didn't reply. He was more focused on trying to reach out to Anna with his power.

Indeed, the connection they shared thanks to her power seemed to have disappeared. Normally, this would allow him to find her as long as she had her marbles. As her marbles were the original medium with which they were connected, they were often used as a means for him to communicate with her. An example of this was the time when he had broken out of the Blue Clan's prison cell and had been able to use her marbles to connect with her and let her know that he was out.

The only time this hadn't worked was when she had gone after Akemi when Iwao had abducted the yellow haired girl in Middle School. The reason for this was because Anna had already been using her marbles and was so focused on Iwao that Mikoto couldn't connect to her. Their connection involved a lot of mind power so if either were distracted too much, they couldn't reach each other to pinpoint each other's location.

The problem here was not that he couldn't locate her because she was distracted, it was more like their connection suddenly wasn't there anymore. Like any signals they could send to each other was being blocked.

It was strange.

And Mikoto was extremely worried.

Very, very worried.

Because what they had learned about Toshi had not only been truly astonishing and in many ways, but also almost terrifying.

~Flashback~

"Totsuka-san isn't a really strong guy, is he?" Yata remarked as his older comrade set down a case of wine next to the counter in the Bar. Tatara was breathless after taking up the case from the basement. He had his hand on his knees as he bent over, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry Totsuka-san! I shouldn't have let you bring them up!" Kamamoto apologized as he set a dish of omurice in front of Anna who was sitting behind the counter, observing the scene with her friends.

Tatara straightened up and smiled cheerfully. "It's alright, Kamamoto. You were busy making lunch for everyone!"

With that, he picked up the ketchup bottle and began to squeeze the paste onto Anna's omurice. He formed a pattern of a smiley face, a flower and a heart over it for her. Although Anna was going to simply eat it anyway, he liked making her food pretty for her.

She appreciated it for the red color that stood out in her vision and he knew that.

"But you really are a weak guy," Yata stated in a sympathetic voice behind Tatara.

Tatara froze, as did the smile on his face.

Anna blinked at him when she noticed how forced his cheerful grin seemed to have become.

"Ah, I suppose I'm not a strong guy like you, Yata-san, but I do have my own talents."

It seemed to bother him more than he let on about how weak he really was. Tatara went on to forming pretty patterns of Anna's food for her.

"Yeah, you do. I can't really picture being like that though...I'd feel so powerless sometimes," Yata continued on rather thoughtlessly.

"That's not a nice thing to say," Kamamoto chided Yata.

"Shut up fatty, it's true!" Yata snapped.

Anna took note of how Tatara had become very quiet. He was upset by his comrade's words but he didn't want to show it.

When he finished with the ketchup bottle, he managed another smile for her before shifting her plate closer to her so that she could reach her food.

Anna lifted her spoon and took a long moment to observe all the pretty drawings her clansman had put on her meal for her.

Then, in a soft but very audible voice, Anna stated, "Tatara is not physically strong like Misaki but he is very skillful,"

Everyone was surprised by her words. Kamamoto grinned hugely afterward while Tatara smiled in appreciation. She had made the heaviness inside of him disappear from the awkward feelings and knowledge about how weak he was.

"Anna's right! Totsuka-san may not be as strong as we are but he's can do a lot of things that we can't!" Kamamoto agreed.

Yata scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Yeah, that is true,"

Tatara chuckled. "Ah, if you continue like that you'll make me blush!"

As his friends responded with humor, Anna's mood lightened.

Indeed, as physically weak as Tatara was, he was strong in other ways.

~Flashback end~

"JJ, why are we going to Seneca? We passed the pharmacy," Anna called through the helmet.

'Come on, Anna, you feel it, don't you? The fear.'

The girl became stunned.

What?! JJ had just telepathetically transferred his thoughts to hers!

'Don't be so surprised, kid. There's a lot you don't know about me...or Kei. But I'm taking you to teach me more. And don't protest! Your precious female friend, Akemi might be in danger if you don't listen!'

Anna was shocked. She wanted to jump off the bike and not give a damn about what happened to her but if she acted recklessly, Akemi might truly be in danger.

She was starting to sense a lot of evil coming from JJ. It was something she had never felt before.

'We're going to Seneca and it won't take us long. The entire Town is on lockdown. No one can get out but they will allow us in...if it's you. Most of the guards are from the Red Clan, aren't they? And you're their princess. They won't question you if you want to come back into Seneca.. And if you want your friend to live, you better get us in without having anyone know what's going on. Do you understand me?'

"Yes," she answered. Although her voice might have been carried away with the wind, JJ still heard her.

They pulled up at the tall iron gates that blocked anyone from coming into Seneca. There were guards all around. In truth, it seemed as though JJ had some strange powers for normally it would take Anna a full thirty minutes to get to Seneca on bike.

JJ took one minute.

Either he had some sort of teleportation power, or some sort of speed-type abilities.

She removed her helmet to show the guards that it was her.

"Oh, it's you, Kushina-san. There's some investigation going on with some guy that traitor to the Clan says is the spitting image of Toshi. It sounds like bull but we can't let up the guard just yet," the security told her.

Anna was about to ask 'Where's Chitose?' but she figured she ought to not say anything at all about that. She had a feeling that the 'kid' who looked like Toshi was probably JJ.

Anna had only seen him once for a few seconds. Back then, she had been so exhausted from overuse of her powers that his face hadn't been properly imprinted into her mind. However, when she thought about it more, based on what she did remember about the crazy researcher's face, was that he and JJ might have shared some similar traits so she didn't doubt for a moment that it was JJ they were talking about.

She also didn't want to get Chitose involved in this.

Not when there was a chance that JJ might get a whiff of the fact that he had a wife and a son who were both strains. If in truth there was some sort of link between JJ and Toshi, then Anna had to be careful: Tamotsu and Maria would would fall directly in line with Toshi's research (at least based on what she had learned about it). Anna did not want Tamotsu to get in any kind of way involved in this madness.

Even if it meant that it would cost her in some way.

She wanted that little one as far away from this as possible and if meant not contacting Chitose who could help her, she would remain silent. Of course, her clansman could help her but she didn't know the full extent of JJ's knowledge or what exactly his goal was.

For this reason, she would remain quiet and abide to his wishes until she could understand what exactly he was up to.

"It is important that we ensure that everyone is safe," Anna told the guard.

He nodded and ordered for the gates to be opened. As she was the princess of the clan, and she seemed to be perfectly fine, no one sought to question her about the person she had come to Seneca with.

It was only shortly after her departure from them that they were contacted by Izumo about Anna's whereabouts. After all, they wouldn't have expected her arrive in Seneca so quickly.

"You did a good job, Anna," JJ told her after they pulled up near the woods close to the schools. He left the bike there before he grabbed Anna's arm and tugged her along.

"Where are we going?" she demanded in a frosty tone.

JJ smiled happily.

"Don't get all ice princess on me, Anna my dear. We have lots to do."

"Why are you doing this? What have you done with Akemi?" Anna demanded as they came to a place she recognized.

At least two years ago, she had run off and come here when she had a fight with Mikoto about Kei. She had met Saruhiko Fushimi here.

It was an area that was heavily covered with snow. There was an entire frozen lake before them that even had a waterfall-which was also stopped up and frozen as it was the dead of winter in Seneca.

Then, she saw Akemi.

Akemi was tied up and bound, seemingly unconscious and left near to the area close to where the plunge pool was.

Anna's eyes widened.

"Akemi!" she gasped.

JJ grabbed Anna's shoulder and squeezed warningly, all the while smiling. "Don't be stupid, now, Anna. I can easily melt that ice and have your dear friend drown. And you do know that where the plunge pool is, is where it is easiest for her die if that ice should melt. She will sink like stone and drown at the bottom of this lake," JJ's expression became evil, "So shut-up,"

Anna immediately obeyed while the young man produced rope and began to bind her legs.

"You know, we wouldn't have had this problem had I known what the morons of your clan did with Totsuka's body," he informed her almost casually as he tied her hands.

"Tatara?" Anna repeated.

What did he have to do with any of this?

JJ paused and glanced at her. "Don't tell me that you're such an idiot that you couldn't recognize how much Kei looks like him?"

Anna was stunned. "But...what do they have to do with each other? And you?"

JJ tied the knot around her hands a little too tightly before he smirked.

"Everything."

Anna narrowed her eyes. "I don't understand,"

"Of course you don't. You know, I even went through the trouble of digging up your dead pal's grave in Shizume City, only to find a coffin full of knick-knacks and pointless garbage?"

Those were most the things Tatara had acquired as his hobbies which he had eventually abandoned. They had buried it as a momento to their friend.

"Just what the hell did your King do with his body?"

Anna eyed the young man coldly as he bent to bind her legs now.

"We burnt him," she answered.

"Great, just great! Whose idea was that anyway?" JJ snapped as he threw up his hands in frustration.

Anna remained silent despite wondering what in the world he wanted Tatara's body for.

Noting this, JJ became more serious as he returned to knotting the rope around her feet.

"I just wanted some DNA from his remains," JJ informed her.

His DNA?

"Did Totsuka ever tell you what happened to his parents?" JJ continued before she could question him.

"His mother left when he was little and his father died-"

"Not his adoptive parents. I'm talking about his real parents-his birth parents," JJ clarified as he stood up.

When Anna remained quiet, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. Anna began to struggle.

"Stay still or Akemi drowns," JJ warned.

She went still as he took a step on the ice and walked over to where Akemi was. He placed Anna beside her unconscious friend.

JJ put his hands on his waist now.

"The story goes that his birth mother left him in a park. That's true. Problem is, is that your friend never bothered to find out why."

Anna stared up at him. Tatara was dead, but she was very interested in what JJ was saying now.

"No one would think that abandoning a child was done because the parent loved that child, would they?"

Anna said nothing.

JJ continued, "Totsuka Tatara's mother was a special woman. A very, very special woman. There was one specific family who, for some reason, had women who always gave birth to strains. Totsuka's birth mother came from that family,"

"But there's been no real link between blood-relation and strains," Anna pointed out. And Tatara wasn't a strain! He had gotten his powers from Mikoto! Not only that, he was considered the weakest member of Homra. There was no way that he could have anything to do with this sort of nonsense about being born to a family who had women who gave birth to strains.

JJ placed two fingers in the middle of his forehead. "Alright. I accept it won't make any sense to you so let's go back to the beginning,"

"The beginning?" Anna repeated with a slightly downturned mouth.

JJ lowered his hand. "Yeah, let's go back to the story of the Dresden Slate. No one really knows where it came from right?"

Anna nodded. It was true.

As perhaps the only person who had ever been able to see the Slate and connect with it despite not being a King, she did not know very much about it.

All she knew was that it pulsed powerfully, as if having a very strong heartbeat.

But it didn't have a heart.

As if reading her thoughts, JJ continued, "It's like it's alive, isn't it? Or so I've been told. It has the ability to grant power but it isn't alive. Oh, it was a source of pagan worship centuries ago but the truth is that it eventually came to be considered something from God, or gods, depending on whoever got a hold of it,"

"What do you mean by that?" Anna asked curiously.

JJ snorted. "Do you honestly believe that something as powerful as the Slate did not shift from hand to hand from different peoples over time because of its power? Look at what happens to the ones chosen by it! Stories of the Slate have been found in from Egypt to Peru! But no one ever knows where it came from. As far as we know, it may have originally first appeared in Greece and from there, different empires fought for it there because it moved to different nations. Anyway, the point is that there was a lot of bloodshed for the Slate. Now, as you know, no one knows who gave us the Slate. Was it God, was it the devil? Maybe it was something some alien race left behind. From what I understand, the Slate, despite not being a living thing, chose a specific family to protect it. Maybe it was an instrument of God and He was the one operating it the whole time. Or maybe it was the devil who just wanted to reveal it to the world just in time to throw it into chaos. Who knows? Point is that it chose a specific group to protect it. These people are the ancestors of your beloved dead comrade."

~Flashback~

"What are you doing?" Mikoto asked as he came in through the doorway that led to the bar. Tatara was sitting beside Anna who had her hands folded neatly on her lap. The small child's eyes were focused on the beautiful image of what looked like a handsome lion that was crafted from Tatara's power. It moved lightly and ran around the room, sparking embers until it appeared in front of Mikoto and disappeared.

"Ah King, Anna was bored so I decided to entertain her. The lion reminds you of King, doesn't it, Anna?"

Anna whose eyes were now on her King nodded.

Mikoto released a sigh before walking over the Bar where Izumo smiled kindly and placed a glass of water in front of him.

"Your power's only good for entertaining brats, huh?"

Tatara pouted. "King is so mean. Anna likes my power doesn't she?" he asked as he affectionately touched her nose with her finger.

Anna blinked up at him before nodding silently.

"Mikoto gave you a warm red," she told him quietly.

Mikoto glanced at her when she said this. These were perhaps the two who were the weakest ones in his clans from a physical aspect.

But they were strong in their own ways. Anna had frightening mental capabilities with the talent of locating the enemy.

Totsuka had a way about him where he could cheerfully talk himself out of any situation.

But there was also a dangerous side to him. His skill with his power allowed him to pinpoint and burn specific body parts of his enemies. What was the twisted thing about it was that he could do it all with a smile.

No one would really think that this guy who was so good with animals and children could be like that.

But then again, he had only done this on rare occasions to some of the filthiest, dirtiest criminals out there. Those who were the pedophiles, the prostitution ring leaders and the animal abusers.

Indeed, Tatara had a warm red. Skillful but weak.

And yet for everyone in Homra, he was wonderfully unique.

~Flashback end~

As Anna's memories of Tatara ran through her mind, she tried to figure out if it was really possible what JJ was currently telling her.

Even if Tatara's ancestors were chosen to protect the Slate, what did that really have to do with anything?

JJ continued his explanation to clarify for her:

"Yes, Totsuka Tatara is a direct descendant of the family who was chosen to protect the Slate. Totsuka's ancestors who brought the Slate to Germany were originally the Slavs who brought it in back in the 12th century and it remained there for a very long time. Now, what exactly is so special about this family who were protecting the Slate? It's their blood."

"Blood?"

"Yes, they carry a specific gene in their body that is that does allow off-spring to be granted special powers. This gene is found in their blood but not all the children born into the family are given power although they still carry it."

"What do you mean?" Anna queried as she did not quite grasp what he was talking about.

JJ sighed in agitation. "Okay, let me put in this way: the Slate is known to grant powers to a King and the only people known to have power other than a King are strains who are considered rejected Kings. So we have two categories which are firstly, Kings and secondly, rejected kings AKA strains. Now there's a third category where the Slate gives power through a person's very biological make up by altering a specific gene that is passed on through generations. But this only happens in one family who was given the task of protecting the Slate."

"Then there's a difference between normal strains and those people you claim the Slate altered their genes so that they could have powerful children?"

JJ nodded vigorously, as if excited that she was catching on. "Exactly!"

"Then why did you say that the people who are supposedly Tatara's ancestors had children who were strains as well? Aren't they different if the Slate altered their genes that would passed on compared to those who are rejected Kings?" Anna pointed out.

"That's a very good point. The reason why I call them all strains are because their powers are similar. It's just that a regular strain who is a rejected King doesn't have the gene. Their power comes from spiritual force, like that of a King while there's something about the genes in Totsuka's ancestry line that allows the Slate to empower them. But we ought to avoid confusion. Let's just call Rejected Kings 'Strains' and those from Totsuka's family line 'Bloodline'. We won't get mixed up that way."

Anna nodded in agreement. She was interested in what JJ was saying. It sounded like madness but in that madness she had a feeling that there was a lot of truth.

"So let's go back to the Slate choosing this specific people who are your dead friend's ancestors, who are the Bloodline. As I was saying, not all of the off-spring are born with power. Perhaps two in every generation have that power. It's possible that the reason for this is because not a lot of women are born into the family. They are quite rare. It is the women whose very wombs seem to nurture the power in the children even as they carry the gene. Women were therefore treasured and treated as very precious in the family. However, even if not everyone in the family had powers, they were still tasked as having a secret sort of society who would guard the Slate."

"How did the Silver King get a hold of it?" Anna questioned.

"Excellent question," JJ commended her. "Well, there was World War II going on around that time. The unfortunate thing is that even a person powered by the Slate in the bloodline family couldn't be protected from a huge bomb dropping in the sky. Germany was attacked and the bombing killed off the family, but not the Slate. Weissman happened to be in the area where the bombing occurred. After the bodies were cleared, he discovered the Slate and built a lab around it where he started to research on it."

"But if everyone died, then how could Tatara be related to them?"

"Because not everyone in the family died. One young boy survived. He is the grandfather of Totsuka Tatara."

~Flashback~

"Tatara," Anna voiced his name as she sat down on a bench in the playground with him.

He glanced down at her and smiled broadly. "Yes?"

"Don't you miss your mother?" she queried.

He blinked at her strange question. Then he looked up and saw before them that there was a young boy playing in a sandbox. His mother hovered over him as she taught him how to play with his shovel to dig up the sand. The boy laughed happily.

"There are other things in life that interest me. Like Anna!" he told her happily as he hugged her close. He figured that she might be missing her own parent like this. He was quite sure that her mother had loved her very much.

"Has Tatara never wondered about his real mommy?" Anna queried as she looked up at him. She had the face a child but her eyes were very mature on him.

Tatara went silent and his smile dimmed only slightly. He placed a hand on Anna's head as he explained, "I don't pay attention to things I don't know about and I won't be able to understand. I want to live for what's right in front of me. And do you know what's in front of me?"

Anna tilted her head slightly, indicating that she didn't know.

Tatara laughed and caught her by the waist. In a rush of red and black ruffled lace, he swung her up.

"Anna! Anna's in front of me!" he exclaimed as he hurried her over to the slide. Anna was well aware that he had deliberately changed the topic and tried to distract her from it. However, she understood why. Totsuka Tatara was simply never one to dwell on depressing things.

~Flashback End~

A/N: Sorry it's so short, and for another cliffhanger. Will try to put up the next part when I have some time. So I'm finally getting into details and it looks like Tatara really has some sort of association with Kei!

*And today is also Anna's birthday! I must say that I'm a bit disappointed in Gora: the only tribute to Anna was a pair of SSR cards. Most of the other main characters got posters and a 4Koma, and they even put in some tweets about them. I understand that their marketing strategy is to focus mostly on the most popular characters but Anna is pretty important too. I'm really, really disappointed, especially cuz there was nothing with Anna and Mikoto lately, not even a tweet :( In fact, the tweets about Anna's birthday were short, sad and vague. It was depressing.

**I also wrote a oneshot with Anna, Fushimi and Mikoto. You can check it out if you haven't as yet. Thanks everyone who reviewed that story.

***SPOILER FOR DAYS OF BLUE CHAPTER 2: I read the second chapter and some of the stuff in it reminded me of what happened in some part of this story, like the bracelet Munakata got for the baby which is something like what Toshi was wearing in Gold Clan's prison: it was developed by the Gold Clan as well and was a wireless sort of shackle. Then the part with the baby pulling of Fushimi's glasses was similar to when Tamotsu pulled off Izumo's. I guess it's all coincidental but I'm kinda glad that I sort of go in line with the manga :)

****Anyway, in a few days time, it will be officially a year since I started writing Growing Pains. I hadn't expected to still be writing it but I'm glad that people are still interested. Thank you all for your support.

****Hannah Scholte AKA StonedBianca from Deviantart made two awesome drawings for Growing Pains. I put the links to her drawings on my profile and I also posted them on tumblr.

Thank you to all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed the story.

For those who reviewed:

Ihadyprilla: Hm...is that reaction a good thing or a bad thing :p Sorry for the cliffie, and there's another cliffhanger here too. Well, when next I write in Akemi and Kei together, I will try to make it as sweet as possible :)

DBerryNia: Yes, the guy was JJ ;) I had everything planned from since then to make a little plot twist ;)

TinaFOTZE: Wow, your words are a real compliment to me. Thanks so much! I think I said this all before but it really does mean a lot to me to know how much you enjoy reading this story :) I'm glad jealous Anna gave you a little giggle and I'm sorry I made you wait so long for this new chapter. Hope you enjoyed it this one as well :)

tare-hare: I'm happy the update notifications make you happy :) I'm so pleased you loved the chapter, especially jealous Anna as well as Mikoto's ignorance of saying 'I love you' to her :) You'll understand more on JJ soon :) God Bless you too dear :)

Narunosuke-Namikaze-Uchiha: Wow, you certainly waited a long time! I'm glad you kept on reading the story until it arrived at this point :) I'm so happy you get excited when you see the updates :) Mikoto really is very hard headed!

LadyCassie: I know what you mean, sometimes I can become a bit possessive of my pets as well :) Mikoto really is a clueless! You're supposed to hate your friends' ex? I guess that depends on the situation and who your friends are and how close they are to you. Now you're starting to learn more about JJ :)

Indochine: I don't disagree with you on your point of view with the way Mikoto thought about Honami, but I felt that it was still possible. Either way, it was pretty darned funny when he didn't even blink when he saw her in her bra! I know I never really talk about Shouhei, that's why I choose to bring him in on occasion. Really? I don't really mention Kamamoto often? I think I probably mention him more than Chitose. But then again as a reader you would see things that I don't. I'll try to bring him up more often 'cause I think I use him more for humor than for being an actual part of the plot :) I also got your message on tumblr, sorry I was so brief! I'm glad you're happy Honami is back and that you thought jealous Anna and Mikoto with the children was cute :) Noooo! Don't destroy the computer! How will you read future updates? :p Well, there were many times I wanted to walk off on the job. I'm hanging in there even though I've had to work 8-7 some days. It's real crappy sometimes but I'm hoping for something better to come along for now. I've never ever read the manga or saw that anime. I have heard of it, but I never got around to indulging in it although I did get the impression that I would probably like it :)

Wonderland Reminscence: I'm pleased you thought jealous Anna was cute :) I wanted to make a plot twist with JJ being a bad guy ;) OMG, I did see the poster and I was wondering if it meant that they were coming back! But then I saw some guys on tumblr pointing out that it's probably kind of like Gora's way of having us say goodbye to them because the butterfly that Tatara made in the dialogue mentioned on the poster is supposed to represent death in Japanese culture I think :'( So, there's our hopes dashed :( I know I mentioned it before but I am so000 disappointed by Gora's lack of regard for Anna's birthday. Just two SSR cards and a few depressing tweets! Everyone else got posters and a 4Koma! That was so, so unfair! I wanted to see something cute with Anna and Mikoto! Anyway, sorry for the rant. It really is sad as well that Gou isn't given enough attention in Free either. It's disappointing to see the lack of regard for some of the females in these anime. Hm, I don't know how they'll end DL. It seems Ayato is the one standing up for Yui now. The last episode comes out tomorrow, right? Or will there be another one? There ought to be another season. Subaru really is a sweetheart. I understand where you're coming from when you went with the flow on what your bro said. I would have done the same thing!

danihasacookie: It's alright, I understand. I'm glad you're still keeping up and that you were able to read the chapters :D I hope this chapter made you even more interested in what's really going on :) I'm happy that you're so glad Anna and Mikoto are getting married! I'm also really pleased that you found that I keep the story true to the manga. Thanks so much for saying that. I honestly want to update more often but it just isn't really possible with the hours I'm working right now. I'm sorry :( You'll find out more on JJ and Kei's secret in the next chapter :) I'm glad you kept note of the ring from the first chapter of this sequel :) I'm glad I'm able to keep you on your toes with the story. Thanks so much for your kind words and hope to hear from you again. Hope you have a wonderful day as well :)

MiSaki: And I've left yet another cliffhanger! Sorry! Thanks for your kind words :)

Tairulz: I'm glad that you do! Thanks for reviewing! :)

Mikoto's wife: I'm glad that you did :) Thanks for reviewing :)

LindyLinn: Lol, you thought correctly! Hope you're excited for the next chapter as well :) PS: Thanks for the add on facebook :)

FragileBlueButterflies: I'm really pleased that you liked those aspects of the previous chapter :) You remembered me mentioning the heavier romance AU with them? I had considered it and I had even made on chapter but I wasn't sure about where I was going with it. I have so little time now to even focus properly on this story that I may not bother to make a whole new story. What I think I might do is a third sequel to Growing Pains which will have mainly drabble in it, and I will include the chapter in there :)

hannah scholte: It's up and it's so awesome! Thank you so, so much!

CupcakesAndCoookies: Hi there, thanks for reviewing! It makes me really glad to know that you've enjoyed reading both the sequel and prequel of Growing Pains :) I'm not sure if I will write something on Yata and Emi quite yet. When I'm done with this sequel, I'll consider it :) You'll know what will become of Anna and Mikoto in future chapters ;) Thanks again and thanks so much for your kind words :)

Thanks again everyone. God bless :)