"Oi, 'Gure-san!" called Ayame playfully, walking into Shigure's house without bothering to knock.

"Ah, Aya!" exclaimed Shigure from somewhere in the house. Ayame soon

found him in his 'study', surrounded by crumpled paper covered in ink. Shigure sighed happily and lit a cigarette, eyes closed in contentment.

"Writer's block?" asked Ayame sympathetically.

Shigure inhaled and considered, "No."

"Whaaaaaaat?" whined Ayame, "Then there is obviously no excuse for you not coming to visit your darling Aya."

"Ta daaaaa!" Shigure said, and held up a picture he had obviously been working on for quite a while. It was of Yuki surrounded by hundreds of screaming girls, with 'Prince' written elegantly underneath. Shigure giggled malevolently, "I'm taping it to his door today."

"Is Yuki-kun popular with the girls?" asked Ayame curiously, kicking some paper to the side so he could sit down.

Shigure offered him the cigarette.

Ayame made a face, "Between you and Hatori, I swear. . ."

Shigure shrugged, and rested the cigarette on his lower lip, "Your loss." He paused, "Yuki-kun is pretty popular. He even has a fan club. He ignores it though."

"A fanclub!" marvelled Ayame, "Taking right after his aniki."

"How is Ha-san doing?" asked Shigure after a moment, putting the cigarette out.

"He's good, a lot cheerier since the snow has melted," replied Ayame, "though he still tells me to refrain from drinking. I don't know why."

Shigure chuckled, "He's one to talk. Hatori-sensei, with a penchant for cigarettes and beer."

Ayame sighed, and leaned against the wall, "How is Yuki doing?"

"Heh, he's doing a very good job charmimg Tohru-chan. You missed them, they left for school an hour ago."

"I doubt very much that Yuki-kun would want to see me, especially if that's what he's doing," replied Ayame.

"Ne, Aya. . ." Shigure hesitated, "Are you feeling okay? You seem a little down."

"Na?" Ayame looked up from poking the paper around, "Gure-san is worried about me? Oh, what a manly man! My wittle heart may burst from love!" "Shut up," said Shigure, a little annoyed.

"Well, actually . . ." Ayame trailed off, "Ano, Akito sent news that he wants to see me tonight."

Shigure looked intently at Ayame, "about what?"

Ayame shrugged, "I don't know. Does he ever tell?" There was a little tremble in Ayame's voice, barely detectable. Shigure recognized the tone as the same as Yuki's when Yuki had told Shigure that Akito had been to see him at school.

Shigure moved over to the wall, sitting next to Ayame, "It shouldn't bother you."

"I know it shouldn't, but it does!" burst out Ayame angrily. "Look at what happened to Ha-san! And HE isn't bothered by Akito!"

Shigure brushed Ayame's hair away from his face. Ayame was shaking. "Aya, it doesn't matter if it bothers you."

"It does. . ." Ayame's fist curled around a piece of paper, crushing it, "I hate it! Why does it bother me?"

"Because of Yuki-kun," replied Shigure quietly, "Because of what happened to Yuki, because you are afraid it could happen to you, or it could happen to Yuki again."

Ayame shut his eyes tightly, "Yuki-kun. . ."

Shigure brought Ayame's head to rest against his shoulder. Ayame relaxed a bit as Shigure stroked his hair.

"Its so bad," muttered Ayame, "I look up to Ha-san and I rely on 'Gure-san to take care of my emotions."

"Nonsense," said Shigure briskly, "My darling Aya, I rely quite a bit on you too."

Ayame smiled a little, "How so?"

"Aya!" said Shigure, pretending to be shocked, "Who set me up with all those gorgeous women whose hearts I had to break?"

Ayame snorted at that.

"Well," said Shigure, "You'll be brave for me, Aya."

"I guess so," Ayame stood up and mussed Shigure's hair affectionately, "Visit me some time, you sexy dog?"

"A-ha-ha-ha, bad pun," replied Shigure dryly.

Ayame flounced out of the room, his old self again, "Ja mata Gure- san!" "Ja!" called Shigure, getting up to find some tape.