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: Sorry for the delay! Been working extra hours lately so there hasn't been much time for me update. Once more, this is a bit of a short chapter. I deliberately made it short so that it would be easier to understand as it has more technical stuff in this chapter compared to the previous one. If you don't understand something, let me know and I will clarify it in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

God bless :)

GROWING PAINS Part 2

by chickypeg

Chapter 37: Blood Type

Each member of the clan had their own place in Homra. No one was ever left out. Each person had their own individual personalities that made them stand out in their own way all the while the thirst for battle was one of the few commonalties amongst them. Izumo was like their parent, the mature one, Yata their representation of youthfulness and vitality. Kamamoto was their lovable glutton while Chitose was their flirt. Eric was their naïve but fierce dog while Fujishima was their stoic one with a huge heart for animals. Then there was Bando was the immature bad tempered one who tended to be prone to being bullied.

The most normal out of the lot was perhaps Dewa and Shouhei. Dewa tended to more stern and a lot more serious minded than his comrades, but he did have some strange habits (like his desire to wear hats and glasses even though he didn't really need them). Shouhei was generally a happy person and seemed to be so normal that even Anna called him 'boring'.

Anna herself was unusual. Being a strain alone set her apart from everyone else. As for Mikoto, he was their strength; their backbone.

But there was one person who provided something for the clan with his own cheerful personality. This was Tatara. Everyone had a flame given to them by Mikoto but Tatara was the one who had made those flames warm.

When all of Homra gathered, he would be the centre of their antics. He would be quick to join in or cheerfully urge the others on with whatever they were doing. Anna would observe while Izumo yelled for his bar to not be damaged in any kind of way.

Mikoto would sit back and half the time seem to be disinterested, but he did pay attention. In this small circle of comrades who gathered in Bar Homra, Mikoto did feel at ease. His normally out of control power would be held temporarily at bay as the people who had come to be near him filled the room with warmth which had been fuelled by Totsuka's cheerful, pleasant demeanor.

~Flashback~

It wasn't unusual for Anna to accidentally 'step' into another person's dreams. This was a common occurrence with Mikoto when she sometimes fell asleep close to him. She would often find herself in an area that looked like a ruined version of Shizume City.

Many times Mikoto would be standing in the midst of it, sometimes with his body burned badly and his red aura engulfing his body. He would glance over his shoulder and look at her for he would sense her presence. Then he would sigh and light a cigarette as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She would walk over to him and they would sit together. Sometimes there would be a small conversation about nothing important.

Then they would wake up.

There were still times when she fell into others' dreams. This tended to happen when she napped in the closed bar area on the couch and one of the guys ended up sleeping away there as well. Yata tended to dream of fights with Saruhiko. Kamamoto had nightmares of being in a room piled high with every sort of delicious food, and yet he would have no appetite to eat it all.

Izumo's were normally about his bar: either he was purchasing a rare stock of alcohol, or he had bad dreams about someone defacing his precious property.

Now, Tatara was another person whose dreams she occasionally entered. Sometimes he would take her on his lap and would cover them both with a white blanket. He would snuggle her against his slender frame and rest his chin on top of her head.

"Time to nap, Anna," he would tell her and close his eyes. Most of the time, he was awake and she knew it. He pretended to be asleep so that when she slept away, either he or Izumo would take her up to her bed. Anna supposed that he wanted her to feel that she was very loved and cared for despite not having her real blood family with her. Just like all of the guys he wanted to be a big brother to her.

But, he sometimes fell asleep with her and it was then that she entered his dreams. Unlike Mikoto, he did not recognize her presence immediately.

His dreams were often very...normal-compared to the others.

He would dream of the songs he wanted to make up, or a new hobby he was indulging it. The strangest dream Anna had ever come across with Totsuka Tatara was one where he was sitting in a doctor's office. Anna recognized it for she had been taken there for a yearly check-up before.

Anna hadn't known Tatara to be sickly despite him being the weakest member of their clan. So why was he here?

Unfortunately, before the dream could go on, Tatara finally realized that she was there. His head turned and he blinked at her.

"Anna?"

"Why are you here, Tatara?" she questioned.

He frowned slightly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

She didn't reply.

Then, he grinned stupidly like he usually did.

"It's nothing to worry about, absolutely nothing! Just a flu vaccine for the upcoming winter!" he told her. He wasn't concerned that she was in his dream. He knew it happened with her and it wasn't like it was something she deliberately did.

The scene began to fade and both opened their eyes to the real world. Anna was looking up at Tatara's still grinning face.

"Nothing at all to worry about!" he repeated happily.

Anna didn't have her marbles to see if he speaking the truth in his heart but she had to accept his words.

Tatara wouldn't lie to her, would he?

~Flashback end~

(A/N: This parts starts off from where the last chapter ended)

Tosuka's grandather...?

JJ continued his story about Tatara's ancestry, "As your friend's grandfather was so little without a family anymore, he was sent to an orphanage in Germany while the Slate was taken into control by Weissman. Maybe he's a nice guy because the Slate accepted him as the First King, and his friend as the Second King who also became its new guardian. This doesn't change the fact that the actual blood, the very DNA of Totsuka's grandfather was very special.

As he had grown up with the task of protecting the Slate, he was able to track it down to Japan after the war. However, having coming to the understanding that the Slate was safe, he accepted that it would remain with the Gold King-for now. This was supposed to be a temporary guardianship. The task was to only be relieved of that family for a short period of time. If it ever comes to the point of where the Gold King cannot properly guard the Slate, that family with the bloodline will take it away once more."

"Then Tatara has other family?" Anna asked curiously.

JJ grinned then and it was a rather sly sort he gave to her.

"Oh, he does. But before we get into Tatara, let's talk a little more about the bloodline family's ancestry. You remember that I told you that even though not all the children born have power, they still carry the genes?"

She nodded.

"Well as long as the gene is passed on, if a female is eventually born with the gene, she could give birth to a child with power. Sometimes when a branch of the family seemed to not give birth to any powerful children after a few generations, they eventually break away and find their own way in life, and no longer associate themselves with the Slate. This doesn't mean that they don't carry the gene. Anna do you know you're a rare strain?"

Anna did not say anything: she knew it: she had the gift of foresight, she could see into a person's soul, she could sync with them and she had some level of telekinesis. Not just her powers, but the very combination of them in one single person as well as the levels they could be pushed to was very unusual.

Mizuchi knew it.

Toshi knew it.

All the Kings and most clansmen knew it.

So what was his point?

"You're rare because you're the only one who is a not a King, but merely a strain and yet you're able to connect to the Slate somewhat despite it rejecting you at every turn. It's like you drift almost in between being a King yet while being more the edge of Strain."

"I'm not that powerful to be close to what a King is," Anna whispered.

"No, you can't give power like a King can," JJ agreed. "But there's more to you than that which accounts for your rarity. Anna Kushina, I'm gonna tell you a big secret."

There was a huge sense of mystery in his voice. Anna cast him a suspicious look.

JJ chuckled, "You are a not only a strain who was a rejected King, but you are also of the bloodline family."

Anna's eyes widened.

"You said that Tatara's grandfather was the only one who survived."

"I did say that, and I also told you that some people broke away and married outside the family, yet they still passed on the gene. You inherited it."

Anna narrowed her eyes slightly.

She remembered the conversation she had with Mikoto and Natsume about blood and the Slate. She recalled them saying that Toshi had taken a specific interest in her and that they had made a lot of assumptions about it.

"Toshi knew this," Anna said slowly.

JJ nodded slowly. "He did,"

"How do you know this?" she queried.

He was the person who looked like Toshi, yet he wasn't. So who exactly was JJ?

"I don't want to talk about me yet. I want to talk about you, Anna Kushina. Aren't you curious about your ancestry?"

Anna didn't say anything.

JJ didn't seem to care for her lack of opinion because he continued speaking anyway, "A few generations ago, one of your ancestors came to Japan and stayed here. He got married to a Japanese woman and eventually your mother was born and then your mother gave birth to you. It's been a while since females were born in consecutive generations from the same branch of family. Normally generations are skipped."

JJ paused to take a breath before continuing again, "You're too powerful of a strain. I think you are not only an off-spring from the womb of the bloodline family, but you are also a rejected King. That's why you're so powerful."

Anna remained silent.

"After all, females of the bloodline are not really known to have any real sort of power save to birth powerful children."

Still Anna didn't want to say anything. The child then-her younger sibling who would have been a boy...he would have had supernatural powers as well?

"You know, it's too bad your unborn sibling had died so soon thanks to that idiot Mizuchi. If his bodily organs had developed a bit more, that fetus would have been really useful."

Anna snapped then.

A dark rage began to build up in her.

He was speaking about the little being who hadn't had a chance to take a breath in this world, as if it were nothing. As if it couldn't have been something...as if it couldn't have been someone.

That someone would have been her baby brother.

And those bastards, those disgusting pigs, murdered him and her mother and father because they wanted to be more powerful!

She herself had been drowned, burned, strangled!

For horrible people like him to research on!

He wasn't Mizuchi, but he was just as nasty.

They ruined lives and they took lives.

"Now, now, Anna. I know how powerful you are but you must know that your power as a strain won't affect me," JJ remarked.

Anna stilled. She was still angry, with eyes that were uncharacteristically fierce on him but she did listen to what he was saying. It was perhaps the first time in an extremely long time she had shown such emotion on her face.

"Why is that?" she demanded in a frigid tone.

JJ lifted a syringe then. It was filled with a dark red liquid which she suspected was blood. Then, without warning, JJ stuck it into his arm and pressed it into his skin.

Anna was stunned by what he did.

"What are you doing?"

He smiled like a drug addict who was getting relief from his fix.

"I'm quite sure you are aware that there's some connection between myself and Toshi, and if there is one, then Kei is involved," he told her as he removed the syringe and tossed it aside. "I got so caught up in speaking about you I didn't even get a chance to properly explain. Well, here it is: the blood I just took is Kei's blood,"

Anna let out an involuntary gasp.

"Yes, my brother's blood. You know that he's anemic and it's pretty bad. I guess it's because good ol' dad took too much blood from him in the past."

Anna's mind began to slowly fit the pieces together. She was beginning to understand as she remembered the incidents that had occurred with the Rise.

"'Dad'?" she repeated in a thick whisper.

JJ nodded. "Yeah. I suppose you'd never suspect that the old guy who wanted to abduct you when you were eleven is the father of the boy you became very good friends with. Kei was a test subject too. In the past, you would have heard that there was a specific blood compound found in Toshi's men that seemed to prevent anyone's power from working on them. There was also the equipment that was developed that could absorb a strain's power and use it against them. Kei is a strain. A very special and unique one. His very blood has the ability to nullify another strain's power."

Anna remained quiet for a moment.

Kei?!

Kei was a strain?

Her friend who stood with her and made her smile?

Whose relationship with Akemi reminded her so much of what it was like to be back in Homra which she missed so much when she was away?

"Blood can't just be injected into another person," Anna said. She was still reeling from shock as she said this.

"That's correct," JJ agreed. "That's why when blood transfusions are given, they give blood to those who need by matching their blood type to that of donors. Kei is Blood Type O negative. That's a universal blood type which means that anyone can be a recipient of that Type and not suffer any rejection from the transfusion. Supposedly."

"Supposedly?" Anna repeated.

JJ nodded. "Some guys argue that there will be side effects from O negative blood but Kei's blood is different, even in this case. Anyone, and I mean anyone can be a recipient of it."

He smiled as he tossed away the syringe before continuing his informative story, "His blood can work in anyone's body, and not only that, the power which is in his actual physical blood rather than his spirit, will continue to work if it given to another person. In other words, by injecting Kei's blood in me, your power won't work on me, Anna. At least not for a couple of days because that's how long the blood will stay in me."

Anna fixed him with a full glare before hissing lowly, "You're lying,"

There was no way, absolutely no way that Kei could have been a strain! That it was his blood that those blood components originated from that blocked strains' power in the past during the situation with the Rise in the past.

It couldn't be possible!

It just wasn't!

JJ shrugged. "You know it's the truth. Dad took his blood and injected it into his men. He overdid it, that's why Kei developed anemia. Don't you think it's weird that your power never worked on him?"

Unlike Akemi, Kei's feelings had never spilled over into visions. She assumed that it was probably because he was a well-adjusted teen. She had also known that he was hiding something about himself, but she had never delved into it because she respected his privacy just as he had respected hers.

She had never used her power on him, but she did remember that time recently in the cemetery when she had sensed Akemi's presence but not Kei's.

"I've used my power in front of him before," she stated as she remembered the times in the Finders' Club that she would use her powers, as well as that time earlier this year when she had had too much to drink and had unwittingly showed him a shard of her misery through visions.

"Let me explain it to you: Kei Junichi is nothing like his father or I. He's got too much love in him and dad saw that a long time ago. Dad knew that he might end up in prison because there was still a chance that he might be found out. And he had been because the one thing he hadn't counted on was you, of all people, and the Silver King's cat girl, showing up out of the blue and ruining everything.

You were both supposed to be tucked away safely somewhere while dad tried his new equipment on the kings. Anyway, I won't talk about what actually happened that night until I tell you a little more about Kei: he doesn't remember his past about what happened because dad entrusted me with the task of wiping his memories clean if he should ever get thrown into prison. This is because Kei was always too much unlike myself or my father.

It would be safer to prevent Kei from remembering. Once he doesn't have his memories, he can't recall having any special ability and therefore he won't really know how to control it if he doesn't remember that he had it in the first place. Most of the time, his power is able to nullify another strain's powers over a large area. In a nutshell, his power basically doesn't have an 'off' button because he doesn't have knowledge of how to turn it on or turn it off because he doesn't know even has a special ability in the first place. Still, there might be times when he unwittingly turns off his power. When he's relaxed or emotionally distracted, his power might switch off temporarily."

"I see," Anna murmured.

It was a lot for her to take in but she was slowly absorbing it.

So Kei was a strain and he was the son of the madman who had tried to kidnap her years ago.

"You've been taking his blood all this time," Anna said slowly as the realization dawned on her.

~Flashback~

"Kei, you look a little unwell," Akemi remarked when she saw him lean against the counter in the maid cafe. Kei smiled wanly as Anna passed by. She paused to find out if he was alright because he was her friend and she was concerned.

Kei shrugged it off.

"I'm find. Just a little anemic, that's all," he dismissed before he straightened and walked away. A pair of eyes followed him. One set was blue, the other was gray.

"Don't worry, ladies. He'll be fine," JJ assured them after observing the small interaction.

~Flashback End~

Kei's anemia hadn't affected him badly since Middle school until JJ showed up when they were in High School and they were working in the maid cafe.

JJ nodded. "I needed it to block out your power, Anna. I couldn't have you seeing into me. I know you're not the sort to deliberately look into a person without good cause but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to chance you accidentally getting a view of inside of me."

"What are you planning?" Anna asked suspiciously. Why did JJ, who was supposedly so intelligent, suddenly drop everything to work in a maid cafe?

That had never really made much sense to Anna but she had passed it off as JJ wanting to spend more time with Kei.

JJ chuckled.

"You'll know soon enough, Anna. But, do you know something interesting? I'm actually not older than Kei by much," JJ informed her softly.

She raised her eyes to his now, wondering what other astounding information he was going to give her.

"I haven't told you about our mother yet, but before I do, let me explain a little about myself and Kei: we were born from the same womb and we spent nine months and one week together."

Anna blinked.

"You're...twins?"

Some people fell in love at first sight. Some people's love just grew on them.

For Kei, it just got up and smacked him on the back of his head.

Oh, it hadn't happened recently with him.

Neither was this a figure of speech.

Akemi had literally smacked him on the back of his head one day and perhaps it was then that he had first started to fall for her.

~Flashback begin~

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Kei snapped at the yellow haired beauty who had just whacked up upside his head.

She glowered at him. "That's for poking me in algebra and nearly getting me in trouble! Sadist!" she snarled as she pointed an accusing finger at him.

Her eyes were blue and fierce. There was a certain unshakeable strength in them that he found himself admiring in her. Yet, beneath that exterior, she was soft and she was kind. What an unusual, rare sort of girl she was.

With a cheerful smile, he wrapped his arm around her.

"Sweet Akemi, you look like an angry dog," he remarked and ran off laughing as she moved to hit him.

~Flashback end~

Kei found himself kneeling on ground before that religious figure that stood beautifully and boldly in the room.

In his hands was Akemi's gold cross.

He remembered her standing in the kitchen of the maid cafe with hair that was like a halo of gold around her, her expression so bright and full of love as she declared, "Kei, I love you,"

And like the asshole he was, he took and arrow and shot it down.

He threw away what she offered him and even afterward she was still willing to stand with him. He didn't deserve her, but he damned well wanted her.

He had unconsciously recognized in her something that he himself had needed-a place to belong. She had been shunned by her family which had created a sense of insecurity about her. Everyone needed to feel they belonged to someone and perhaps when she had turned more and more toward God, she had started to feel more settled.

Kei's sense of displacement had been because he didn't remember where he belonged. He didn't even remember his parents' faces.

But everything he had been living in ever since had been a lie.

A lie formulated to keep him disillusioned about who and what he truly was. He was Kei Junichi, the brother of Jirou Junichi and the son of Sho Toshi.

His mother was no longer a part of his life.

His father was a madman.

And his brother...

His brother was just like him-nothing but a test subject for their father, treated like a lab rat because of the power that was in his blood.

Kei had remembered everything.

He fell to his knees before the religious icon that hung from above in the church.

He didn't believe in God.

He couldn't say he ever had.

He wasn't quite sure he did even now. But heck, if Akemi believed in something she couldn't see and if she found some fulfillment with it then maybe, just maybe, if there was a God out there, He would grant Kei a miracle.

As Kei stood up, he ran out of the cathedral. There was no phone on him and there was no way he could run off to get help.

He had to after his brother now.

His brother who was born from the same woman as him.

The brother who had spent months in the same womb with him.

The brother who had laughed, smiled and taken care of him since he was young!

The brother who had lied to him.

The brother who had betrayed him.

The brother who would kill and take away what was his.

~Flashback~

One of the best things in life was being cuddled up warmly amidst comfy blankets on a cold day. And perhaps what was even better, was being roused from the languorous sensation by the lazy heat of a lover.

Well, Mikoto wasn't quite her lover yet.

But he would be soon.

Anna was cocooned among the white sheets as she lay upon the divan in the hallway. Beside her was the window which was shut but the silky curtains were not drawn so that a patch of morning sunlight was cast upon her.

In these moments, Mikoto found her to look so unworldly. These were the times when she seemed ethereal.

With her waves of thick white hair that spilled not only around her body but even as far as out of the blanket to pool to the floor. Large eyes that reflected a rosy red and skin that was almost alabaster as her hair.

She wasn't a little girl as she lay upon that divan: she was very much a woman. Especially when she sat up and the sheets fell from her shoulders to reveal her curvy upper body that was clad in an innocent pink lacy nightgown that had frilly short sleeves.

"Mikoto," she whispered his name.

Could he call her a queen yet, even if he was a King? No, for some reason Anna still seemed very much a princess. She had the maturity of a queen and yet a child-like quality in her that perhaps could not properly define her a queen yet. But what truly was a queen anyway, and who really cared?

Because Mikoto really didn't.

She would be his soon, and that would be enough.

He eyed her lazily as he stood about a foot away.

Ever the woman she might be, but she rubbed her eyes like a sweet child before blinking at him owlishly.

"Did you wake up early?" she questioned. The sun had just risen. Mikoto wasn't typically an early riser (if he could help it, he would probably sleep all day long too).

"I just got home," he answered.

Anna looked away to her hands that were on her lap. "I see."

"Did you sleep here the whole night?"

She nodded.

He frowned. "Why?"

Her cheeks became slightly red. "I was waiting for Mikoto to come home."

There was mild surprise on his expression, but he did appreciate her thoughtfulness.

He stepped toward her and sat down beside her. She shifted slightly to accommodate him. He gazed down at her exceptionally beautiful face before lifting a large hand to lightly touch her cheek.

Which he proceeded to give a hard tug on.

Anna whimpered at his pinching and grasped his wrist.

"Mikoto," she moaned and he released her.

He saw the familiar redness of the mar he caused to her skin and lowered his head to kiss her soft, marked skin gently.

"You shouldn't wait up for me. You should get more rest," he told her gruffly before he drew back.

Anna gave a slight nod, like a child was being chided.

Mikoto frowned. He didn't really want her to feel like it didn't matter to him that she had been so thoughtful toward him.

He briefly kissed her other cheek before lightly brushing her lips.

"Thanks," he told her before standing.

Anna's expression softened and he lightly ruffled her hair before standing. If he stayed any longer beside her, he would probably end up doing things to her that would make Izumo bitch at him for the rest of his life for.

As much as he wanted his delicious bride-to-be, there were some things that made him willing to hold off on.

Like her legal guardian's nagging.

Besides, he sort of rank anyway from being out all night going through some hideouts with his men when they were sorting out an issue with a filthy druglord who had entered the city.

He didn't think Anna ought to be held and caressed with a grimy body (although she probably wouldn't mind).With this realization on hand, he decided that he ought to head to the shower right away.

He stripped off his t-shirt and Anna found herself fascinated by him for the brief moment he stood like that with his back partially to her.

His body was so lean and toned for a man who spent most of his life sleeping. There were odd battle scars here and there, including one somewhere near the middle of his back on his upper body. That was where Reisi's sword had stabbed a few years ago.

Anna felt a stirring within her as she observed the way the sunlight drew over his sleek, athletic body. He had muscles in all the right places and not a flab of fat on him. He had a beast-like quality to him as he moved and yet he was so graceful in such a lazy manner!

What an interesting man Mikoto Suoh was.

Anna stood up. Mikoto was only an inch away from her. While he might think he smelled badly, Anna didn't think so. In fact he had a faint odor of sweat and musk and she found that strangely...arousing.

Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced at her from over his shoulder. With their silent way of communicating, she was able to decipher from his inquisitive look that he wanted to know if something was wrong.

She lowered her eyes shyly.

"Mikoto is going to be mine, aren't you?"

The Red King grunted and leaned down to kiss her temple lightly. After a brief nuzzle there, he drew back slightly so that her slightly reddened face was directly in front of him.

"Aren't you?" he responded to her question.

Anna blinked while he straightened up. What did he mean by that? Her eyebrows rose slightly when she saw a glint in his eyes. Although his handsome mouth wasn't smiling, his eyes seemed to be.

Mikoto was...teasing her.

He snorted and took hold of her right hand. Lifting it, he saw that she still wore on the silver ring he had given to her, just as he had instructed her to. It had been nearly a year since he had given it to her as a gift and he was quite satisfied to know that she had obeyed him.

After a light brush of his mouth on her knuckles, he released her to go have his shower.

~Flashback End~

A/N: Thanks for reading. Now there's some new developments about Anna's background as well. Hope everyone thought it was good :) I'll explain more on Kei and JJ in the next chapter.

Thanks also for following, favoriting and reviewing.

For those who reviewed:

Tairulz: I'm glad you found it interesting! Hope you liked this chapter as well :)

Mikoto's wife: Mikoto certainly isn't happy about this development! I'll actually explain that part later on about why Mikoto couldn't locate Anna although the reason for it is actually in this chapter. I'll explain in it in detail in another chapter :)

TinaFOTZE: Aw, you really say such lovely things! Thank you! Hm...how are you so sure they will get married? Something bad could happen in here to them you know ;p But if they're going to get married, it will be toward the end of the story and more than likely that ought to be at least five chapters (or more!). I normally can't give a proper average because I normally write more than I intend to. The previous chapter, this chapter and the next one were originally supposed to be one entire thing but it would have been too long and cumbersome and confusing for readers so I had to divide it up. Some chapters tend to be like that so more than likely it would be more chapters than just five. Hope you stay in tune and enjoy them though :) I really, really thank you for those kind words. They're really motivational and inspirational to me. Thank you :)

tare-hare: I'm happy it made your day, and I hope this chapter made your day as well :) I'm glad this story keeps you curious and I hope you enjoy it to the end :)

DBerryNia: You'll find out more in good time about them. The next chapter will explain Tatara's involvement in all of this :) Sorry for the short chappie. I couldn't make it any longer or it would have become confusing to readers. Hope you enjoyed this one although it's a bit short as well I think :)

LadyCassie: JJ is definitely a bad guy here. But you'll learn more about him soon. Mikoto will also show up eventually you :)

LindyLinn: His background is going to get crazier. You'll understand that in the next chapter and I believe all of your questions would more than likely be answered after you've read it :)

Indochine: I have half of christmas even and christmas day off. And that's it :/ But it's better than nothing :) No way am I losing interest in this story! There were actually times in work when I missed writing so much I was close to grieving and supervisor had to come ask me what was wrong. I had to lie (which is bad) and claim I have a headache. Thanks so much for your wonderful words. I truly, truly appreciate them. I also keep you in mind a lot because you're the one person who has reviewed nearly every chapter since the very beginning of Growing Pains which was nearly a year ago. It means a lot to me that you've kept so much interest in the story and you still make an effort to let me know your thoughts on the story :) I had always planned to have Tatara have some kind of relation to Kei. This chapter is one that I had been planning since I had introduced Kei and it feels strange now that I've finally started to delve into it :) Don't worry, even JJ implied that Kei isn't like him or Toshi :) Maybe the bracelet from DoB was more than likely pure coincidence but I thought it was kinda cool that the ideas were similar :) But who knows, maybe there is someone having a little look! Thanks for taking the time to review. Always happy to hear from you Indochine :)

FragileBlueButterflies: I 100% agree with you. In fact, I agree with you 150%. I think on a whole, I'm disappointed by the lack of recognition the women in K are given except to be used as some sort of sexual appeal. I don't mean to get all feminist here (because to some extent, feminism can be overrated) but I think that there's a lot more potential and room for the females in K than to simply be 'by the way' characters whose only use is to add a teeny bit of plot and otherwise only sexual use in the story. I got a real turn-off from Gora because of that. I mean, I do admit it was awesome that Anna's background was central in K: Side Red and that there were a few chapters centered on her in K: Memory of Red but I still think that appreciation of her as a character is lacking. I understand that it's important to give fans what they want and they seem to go crazy over Saruhiko and Yata (I like Saru but Yata's not really important to me) but I am quite sure that if they did their marketing properly, they could shift the fans' attentions to the importance of Anna as a character. No need to apologize for the rant because I'm glad someone feels the same way I do. I also feel the same way you do about Anna-I love her very much as well. Thank you so much for your kind words and thanks so much for the support you give me as a wonderful reader to this story. Thank you :D

Thanks again for reading.
God bless :)