Here's the next chapter, finally finished after a few days of pondering with it. Hopefully, just hopefully, I will be able to finish the next chapter tonight before I have to leave. I shall be away for the following week, so I'd like to throw on an extra update if possible. I guess we shall see if that'll happen or not. If not, I imagine when I get back, I'll have another few chapters written by then to throw up on here. This story has really started taking off in my head. ^_^ So hopefully the chapters will be flowing quite freely!

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"Come on, sleepyhead. As much as I don't like the idea, you were intent on going to school this morning." Schuldich pulled the sheets over his head, grumbling that he had changed his mind. Bradley chuckled, standing up and grabbing onto Schuldich's arm, tugging the German out of their bed. As he fell to the floor, the young teen let out a string of curses, demanding a cup of coffee.

"Bradley, why do I even have to go to school? It's so pointless. I decided I'm quitting. Would you be happy loving a high school drop out?" The American simply smiled, as he left the room, setting the kitchen table for breakfast. He heard Schuldich continuing to grumble, which was common place in the mornings when he wasn't injured. Just as he set the bowl of rice on the table, Nagi suddenly popped up in his chair. Bradley ruffled the kid's hair, pouring him a glass of milk. Farf arrived next, poking his bacon with a fork, before devouring it quickly. As usual, Schuldich was the last to arrive for food, sitting in his chair and pushing his toast away, his eyes roaming to the cup of coffee sitting on the counter.

"Not until you eat your toast. We've had this conversation before."

"But my throat is dry."

"Bull shit. Eat, then coffee. I shouldn't even let you drink it, it's so bad for you." As he said it, he took a sip from his own cup of coffee, smirking at Schuldich's scowling face. The German reservedly took a bite of the bread, stifling a yawn as he chewed. Bradley sat down next to him, setting the mug in front of his boyfriend. Muttering a thank you, Schuldich downed half the cup.

"There we go, I feel better already." He finished the rest of his toast quickly, gathering all the dishes from the table and piling them in the sink. He stood at the counter, sipping from his mug, contemplating his day. He didn't really want to go, and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to stay home. Seeing Yushi was not on his list of things to do. Finishing his coffee, he set the mug on the counter, standing behind his American boyfriend, leaning over top of him.

"You made up your mind yesterday, and you're not getting out of it." Schuldich pushed away from him, grabbing Nagi's empty glass.

"Can't I simply cuddle with you for a bit? Why do you always think I'm after something?"

"Because I know you." Bradley folded up his newspaper, walking over to the counter where Schuldich stood, embracing him and giving him a quick kiss. "Time to go." Everyone got their things together, leaving the apartment and heading down to the garage. Farf and Nagi piled into to the back of Brad's jeep, as Nagi let Farf read the story he wrote the night before. Schuldich settled into the front seat next to Bradley, his fingers resting on the older man's leg. The trip to Nagi's school was rather quiet, as no one really had much to say. After dropping the Japanese boy off, Brad drove a little further up the road, dropping the remaining two off. Brad grabbed Schuldich's hand before he got out of the vehicle, mentally linking in with him.

'Are you really alright, Schu? If you have any trouble today, just call me.'

'I'm fine, Bradley. Stop worrying about me.'

'Somebody has to.'

'I'll see you after soccer practice.'

'I'll be here. Love you.' Schuldich smiled, squeezing Bradley's hand before heading off into the school. Unfortunately, the first person he ran into was Yushi. He looked up into the angry eyes of his larger team mate, remembering what had happened the day before with Farf.

"I would advise you to tell that freakshow you live with to never try anything with me again. Or else there will be serious repercussions." He said nothing, simply shrugged as he walked away. Yushi was not what he wanted to deal with this morning. Surprisingly the older boy didn't try to get in anymore words, but that didn't deter the redhead from quickening his pace a bit more to get to class. He quickly sank into his seat at the back of the classroom, drawing out his textbook and flipping it open. He looked up as a shadow crossed over his desk.

"Red! You feeling better? We got worried since you didn't show up yesterday." He saw real concern in the eyes of his friend, and smiled up at him.

"I'm fine, Hiro. Just decided what with the upcoming game, there was no use in stressing myself needlessly. So I decided to stay home since I'd had trouble sleeping Sunday night, since I was so sore. But I'm fine now." His friend smiled, sitting down in the chair next to him.

"That's good. You didn't really miss anything important yesterday, we were just reviewing everything from last week." The German nodded, and listened to Hiro fill him in on things until the class started. The class went by quickly, and soon the German was up and on his way to the next. The whole day seemed to fly by in that manner, pushing him quickly towards his most dreaded part of the day. Soccer practice.

"Schuldich, how are you feeling today? Are you alright?" He smiled, waving off all worries from his coach. After pleading that he had simply taken the day off to ensure he was well rested, his coach relented, and he went in to the locker room to change. He was quiet, not really making an effort to engage in conversation with anyone. The moment Yushi walked into the room, he felt the tension level rise. To his surprise, the older boy put on a good show for everyone else.

"Good to have you back, Red. We were worried about you yesterday. I apologize again for what happened Sunday, guess I should cut out the energy food before practice with my own team, huh?" Schuldich nodded, not in the mood to address the other boy. Practice began, and things were going well. They did their drills, practiced goal kicks, and ran through plays. There were no incidents, and nothing bad happened. When an end was finally put to practice, and they returned to the locker room, Schuldich wasted no time getting changed and out of the locker room. Anything to get away from Yushi. The older boy seemed in no rush to acknowledge him though, as he lazily set about changing, joking around with the others. Schuldich left, saying a few goodbyes as he went out the door. He hurried to the front steps of the building, hoping to see Bradley's black jeep already waiting for him. He wasn't there yet, and while that wasn't uncommon, Schuldich hoped he would get there soon. He didn't want to have anyone run into him while he was waiting. He sat on the steps, probing for Bradley's mind. He thought he felt the American's presence nearby, and brightened. He looked up, seeing the black jeep at the end of the road, rolling to a stop just at the end of the stairs. He bounded quickly down the steps, flinging his bag in the back seat as he jumped into the front. He looked over to the seat next to him, noting Bradley's contemplative look.

"You seem to be in a rush. Bad day?" Schuldich slumped back against the seat, allowing his fingers to intertwine with the ones Bradley offered him.

"No, just wanted to be with you." With a final squeeze to the younger boy's hand, Bradley pulled his away, easing his jeep back into the street. Neither of them said anything, but Schuldich noticed that Bradley seemed to be taking the long way home.

"We need to talk." Looking at Bradley, Schuldich couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of fear at those words. Didn't those words always mean something bad? "I swear sometimes you must have a tiny streaky of empathy in you. Stop worrying so much, it's not that bad. I still love you and don't want to break up with you, it has nothing to do with us being together. Well actually that's a lie, it does. Just not romantically, at least. Oh hell. Listen to me." Bradley chuckled at himself, wondering why he was having such a hard time with words; maybe Schuldich's emotions were having some effect on him. He reached over, taking hold of one of the German's slender hands again, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Schuldich squeezed back, feeling slightly foolish for even worrying.

"Anyhow, this is about you. Estet has decided they want your training pushed quicker, and they want you to start accompanying me on missions. I'm to introduce you to our employer, Takatori Reigi, Thursday night. He has a function to go to, and since he has requested my presence, Estet has decided you will accompany me. There's someone there whom you're apparently supposed to scan." Bradley let his words sink in, wondering what kind of an effect they would have on Schuldich. He chanced a glance at his boyfriend, who was looking down at his hands.

"Wow, that's some pretty short notice. What exactly is this function going to be for? Do I get to dress up?" Brad smiled, nothing that the German seemed to be taking it well.

"Yes, we're actually going to see a tailor at the moment, in case you were wondering. We need to get you a suit made for Thursday. Takatori is paying for it." Schuldich nodded, now understanding that the long route had served two purposes.

"Is scanning all I'll have to do?"

"Yes. As far as Takatori knows, though, you're being utilized for your superhuman speed and sensitive hearing." Schuldich burst into laugher upon hearing that, as it also brought a smile to Brad's face.

"Sensitive hearing? Oh that's great. I was wondering if they'd try to bring that into play or not. Am I going to have to give him a demonstration of my abilities?"

"I'm not sure, it's up to him. I guess you'll be the first to know in that regard." He pulled in up in front of the tailor shop, parking the car as they both got out. He led Schuldich into the back of the shop, where the Takatori's personal tailor was already waiting. He removed his coat, spreading his arms at the request of the tailor. He and Brad made snide comments to each other through their link, as Schuldich complained that the tailor was trying to feel him up. They were finished quickly, and told to come back tomorrow to make adjustments. They left, getting back into the jeep and heading back to the apartment. The drive back was filled with conversation about how their days had gone. Having foreseen a surprise quiz in global economics, Brad had been able to study the accurate material over his morning break, allowing him to pass the quiz easily. Schuldich chastised him, echoing Brad's comments to him that it was wrong to utilize one's skill to get ahead in school. Brad promptly decided to change that rule, to which Schuldich rolled his eyes, then admitted to doing the same thing on a history test. He simply shifted through the teacher's head and found the correct answers. Pulling into the garage, Brad proclaimed the issue as closed, and that in the future, neither of them should admit to the other upon cheating with their skill. Schuldich laughed and agreed, grabbing his bag from the back and following Brad into the apartment.