Disclaimers: Gravitation STILL doesn't belong to me, although I do have a small chance of getting more mangas. ^_^

Notes: MY REPORT CARD WAS GOOD! I DIDN'T GET GROUNDED AFTER ALL! I was going to be grounded for six weeks if I had missing assignments in my classes noted on my report card, but there weren't any. GO ME! Also, my hair is PURPLE purple again, and I just got some really cool fake fingernails.

/thoughts/

~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~

            I woke up early the day Tatsuha left, and went with him to the station to wait for his train. I ended up sleeping on him most of the time we were waiting, only waking up every time he stirred. He didn't move much, which was nice na no da. I feel kind of bad about that, but Tatsuha said he didn't care. He was tired too, and it was our last couple moments together for a whole week, so I still feel bad about it na no da.

            Afterwards I went home and took a nap. Kumagoro slept with me this time. Tatsuha and I had both shared the bed the night before, and Kumagoro had offered to sleep on the mattress so it wouldn't be so crowded. I took a nap with him to make up for it. He seemed a lot happier after that. We'd kind of grown distant while Tatsuha was there, since we both wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. Sure, we still hung out together na no da, but not as often as we used to.

            "Morning Kumagoro," I offered with a smile as I woke up, covering my mouth when I noticed that Kumagoro was still sleeping. I tried to go back to sleep before I heard Kumagoro yawn and I sat up, poking him gently. "Awake now?" He nodded at me and I picked him up, setting him on my lap.

            We talked about a lot of things after that. What we had forgotten to tell each other when Tatsuha was around, mostly na no da. He told me all about what it had been like in the dryer and washer for the first time. Kumagoro said it was fun, but it sounded scary to me na no da! He was talking about all the spinning he did and the way the towels hugged him and kept him warm when he got cold before we threw him in the dryer, and then they fanned him off to keep him nice and cool.

            See, I normally gave Kumagoro normal baths, but Tatsuha and I had been playing around in the park one day, and when he told me he'd buy me some ice cream when we were done I dropped him right into a BIG mud puddle. We weren't going to embarrass him and take him with us to get ice cream like that, but the store was closing soon na no da. So, instead of giving him a normal bath, which would have taken to long, I threw him in the laundry with a couple of my other pink things. It worked; he was clean in time to go with us to get ice cream.

            See, it wasn't often when Tatsuha took me places. He didn't have the money me and Kumagoro had, but he said he wanted to pay us back somehow for letting us stay and being so nice, so he took us out when he could na no da. Never anywhere really nice, and not very often, but it was enough for me. It showed me that he cared about me, and wanted to make me happy. I could buy myself whatever I wanted, at any time, but Tatsuha couldn't. The fact that he gave up his money for me, even when he KNEW he didn't have to, made me feel good na no da. Most times he just took me out for ice cream, but we all liked ice cream, so that was alright na no da.

            Dragging myself out of bed, Kumagoro with me, of course, I headed for the living room, flopping down on the couch and staring at the TV screen. I'd kept it out when Tatsuha was staying with us, so he could watch TV whenever he wanted, but he wasn't there anymore so I could put it back away and use it for a complete practice room again. I'd be sure to do that later.

            "I wonder what Tatsuha's doing right now, don't you Kumagoro?" Kumagoro nodded and I squirmed a little bit as I felt something poking into my butt. Reaching around and looking for it I found out it was the remote control na no da! I normally put it on the table, but Tatsuha'd forgotten to put it back, I guess. "Want to watch some TV while it's still in here na no ka? There might be something good on, after all." Kumagoro nodded and I turned it on, flipping through channels. It was mid-Saturday; there wasn't really anything good on. That was the time most people spent outside working or doing other things.

            I frowned as I dropped the remote, not bothering to pick it up right away. It had stopped conveniently on a news station. Most people didn't understand why I went into singing, not all of the reasons anyway. It wasn't just my love of singing that did it. Sure, that's the main MAIN reason, but that's not the only reason I wanted to be a singer. I could still sing whether it was my career or not. Another, not so important reason I sang, was that I wanted to erase the news. It disgusted me. It told all about the bad things in life na no da. There weren't half as many good stories as bad on the news. They made money off of publishing bad things; I wanted to shower each station, magazine, and paper with stories about myself. GOOD stories.

            As I bent over to pick up the remote I set it on the couch next to me, finger pressing the up button on the volume controls. I could have SWORN I'd heard my name.

            "…after some research was found to be a student, enrolled in a high-school here in Tokyo. A first-year student from Kyoto, who had obviously been staying with relatives until not too long ago this summer. One can guess that he's quite popular with the ladies in one glance. One can only imagine what's going on between these two. After their show last night around the city, I wouldn't be surprised by anything. You?" It didn't take me long to figure out they were talking about Tatsuha and me. How could they even THINK we were doing something wrong na no ka!

            "Me either. You know, I was there that night. My son had wanted to play a couple rounds of DDR as well. They were up when we arrived there. My son wanted an autograph, but I decided it was best we didn't disturb him." Blinking I picked up the phone and grabbed the phonebook from underneath the couch, where I kept it. Sliding out a small piece of paper I dropped the book back onto the floor. Unfolding it I read quickly through the stations. 49…49…aha! There na no da!

            I quickly dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. Anyone. Anyone at all, I could get my way on-air in a couple of minutes if I REALLY wanted to. Tohma could do that for me if I couldn't do it myself.

            "Hello?"

            "Hiya! This is Sakuma Ryuichi, can I please say something really important on your earlier statements na no ka! It's really important to me!" There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and I could hear the commotion going on behind them. People shouting orders and things being moved.

            "I don't have time to deal with this right now. Can you prove you're really Sakuma-san in the next, I dunno, minute?" I closed my eyes and sang. A little bit from what I'd been working on lately. I know how recognizable my voice is. There wasn't any way they weren't going to know it was me na no da! If this girl worked at the news station, there was no way she wouldn't know who I was, at least. "I'll try my hardest, Sakuma-san." I nodded and I was once again listening to the background noise of the station.

            "We can get your statement on-air in a few minutes. Do you want me to try and get you on-air or do you want me to take a message and hand it to them?"

            "I'll say it right now: Tatsuha and I have not done anything wrong na no da. He's only 16 and I'm aware of that, I wouldn't dare do anything that would get either of us in trouble na no da. I'm not stupid enough to do something like that. Sure, if he was old enough I might have considered it, but I wouldn't have done it! Even so, it wouldn't be any of your business what Tatsuha and I do na no da." My eyes had narrowed sharply as I spoke to them, so said the now black television screen. I heard her scribbling some things down, and her voice was slightly more wary as she spoke again.

            "Alright then. I'm so sorry about that, but it's the media's way. I'm sure I wouldn't like it anymore than you." I smiled happily, eyes widening again.

            "Thank you! It's nice someone tries to understand me na no da! PLEASE don't tell anyone this, but that's why I like Tatsuha so much. He tries to understand me!"

            "I won't, don't worry about it." There was a sweet tone of voice evident as she spoke, and I nodded happily. "Thank you for calling us Sakuma-san."

            "No problem. Thanks for listening. Kumagoro says thanks, too na no da!" I heard her laugh softly before thanking me again and hanging up the phone. I nodded and hung up as well, leaning back and closing my eyes. I pulled Kumagoro into my lap as I stared at the ceiling. "Do you think this'll work Kumagoro?" I asked softly, petting Kumagoro's head as I thought. He offered no help and I sighed, setting him on the couch again. "I mean, I really like him, but he said he didn't want to be a part of the media, right? I can't keep him a secret na no da." Everyone probably already knew about Tatsuha now, but I had to wonder if that would be a problem for him. After all, the day we met he said he didn't like attention from the media.

            I jumped as someone knocked on my door, sighing and getting up from the couch. I peered cautiously around the corner as I opened it, smiling brightly as I caught sight of Shuichi standing there. Sure, Tohma had made sure that no reporters could get to my house, but I was still allowed a little bit of paranoia. It wasn't like there hadn't been times they'd shown up anyway.

            "Hey Ryuichi. Yuki's bitching about his deadline again and I don't want to bug him so wanna go out to eat somewhere? Y'know, as friends? Since Tatsuha's gone and Yuki's busy it can be a chance for us to hang out. Wanna go?" I nodded happily, opening the door for Shuichi to come in as I ran over and grabbed Kumagoro, depositing him in Shuichi's arms.

            "I have to get ready na no da. I wasn't planning on going anywhere after I dropped Tatsuha off so I didn't get dressed again na no da. Watch after Kumagoro for me for a second, Shu-chan!" Shuichi smiled and nodded, closing the door behind him as I ran into my room and got changed. It didn't take me very long, and it wasn't anything fancy, but at least it was clean. It would be fun to hang out with Shuichi again. Him and I hadn't had the chance to hang out like we used to, either. He spent his vacation with Yuki, and the rest of it he probably spent between work, Yuki, and Hiro. That was okay, though. That gave me plenty of free time to hang out with Tatsuha and Noriko. Of course, Tatsuha was almost always with me. I was his host after all, na no da! I couldn't just leave him all alone often. Of course, I did sometimes, when he wasn't allowed to go somewhere with me or he would have been bored, but that wasn't very often at all.

            "So, where are we gonna go?" I asked as I re-emerged from my room, grabbing Kumagoro and kissing the top of his forehead happily. Shuichi smiled and shrugged, opening the door and letting me out before leaving himself, shutting it behind him and stepping aside so I could lock it. Neither of us had a clue where we were going, but that was okay. Time spent with friends was time well spent.

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YIPPIES! I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE! I'm not sure about how it turned out, but I'm getting a negative feeling out of it. Oh well, at least I can go on to write some more now. Also, I've entered in that one novel-writing contest; so don't expect many (if any) new chapters over November. Also, my social life is picking up, and my friends want me to help them fan dub a series they like. I'll TRY to have another chapter done before November, but no promises.

PLEASE review! It gives me the inspiration to write even faster!