Author's Notes: Okay, it's time I fess up... I've been cheating. I've already had all of this stuff written, and that's the only reason I could update so fast. I meant to mention that... really... Anyways, this may be the last update for this week. I'm working on more chapters, but my editor is out of town and I'd like her to go through my next few chapters before I post them. Ooo, that sounds so professional... Actually, my "editor" is my lovely sister who's a better writer than I am and is very gracious to help me with my stuff and I love her very much. This whole fic is dedicated to her. So I now proclaim.

Notes on the Rating...
IMPORTANT! This fic is rated PG. However, this chapter talks about a PG-13 movie. The scene that gives this film that particular rating is briefly mentioned and very vaguely described in this chapter. It should be no problem, but I didn't want anyone yelling at me for dealing with the concept of you-know-what... If it bothers you, feel absolutely free to skip this chapter. I don't plan on having the concept come up again.

We've finally changed PoV's! (I'll tell you whenever that happens:)

Eiji's Point of View

Oishi was acting weird.

Dinner was nice but rowdy as usual. I was kind of groggy from my nap at first, but I shook it off quickly. We were having spaghetti. There's nothing much more fun than making a show of slurping up one's spaghetti. Mom had long since stopped trying to convince her kids that it was impolite. She soon got frustrated, though, and got up to prepare dessert. My siblings and I broke into giggles as soon as she left the dining room. Then we continued to slurp spaghetti.

I looked over at Oishi again. He was twirling his spaghetti around his fork, obviously doing more thinking than eating (or slurping, for that matter). I hoped nothing was wrong. "Nya." I poked him playfully. He looked up at me and smiled. It was a genuine smile. So he wasn't unhappy.

I pushed my plate away from myself, stretching my arms at the same time. The suspense mounted as we all waited for dessert. We didn't have to wait long. Mom promptly returned with bowls of vanilla ice cream and all the materials needed for a decent sundae. My siblings and I immediately set to work.

As I was piling my sundae high with marshmallows, Mom asked me cautiously, "Eiji, did you finish cleaning your room?"

I sighed a little. "Yes, Mom."

"Good boy." My brothers and sisters giggled at that. I ignored them. Mom pointed her spoon in the direction of my doubles partner, who was patiently waiting his turn to decorate his frozen vanilla goodness. She remarked, "I assume you have Oishi-kun to thank for that."

To both my relief and profound embarrassment, Oishi answered, "No, Mrs. Kikumaru. It was no trouble at all." His expression changed slightly and he looked down at his plate. "It was my pleasure."

That was weird. I mentally shrugged it off.

Really, I loved Oishi, but he could make me look so bad sometimes. Talking so politely, having perfect table manners, smiling, saying work was his pleasure, waiting his turn for the ice cream toppings(which was just unheard of at my house)… I looked back at him out of the corner of my eye. He was explaining to my mom that he still hadn't vacuumed in my room, apologizing profusely, and promising to help me finish up after dinner.

Why hadn't he vacuumed? Oh, right. I'd been sleeping. What had he been doing all that time? I guess it didn't matter. I popped my loaded spoon into my mouth. When the sweet, chilly lump had slid down my throat, I licked my spoon thoughtfully and let my mind wander.

My nap had not lasted very long, but it had been nice. Let's see… Had I dreamt at all? I tried to remember. It was hard. I had the distinct feeling that I'd dreamt something…

That's right. I remembered clouds. I was lying on the grass, watching the clouds go by. Oishi had been there, of course, next to me. He was pretty much always in my dreams. Except some of my nightmares. I didn't even remember looking at him in this particular dream, but I knew he was there. Maybe I'd heard his voice. The dream was foggy in my memory now. I gulped another spoonful of ice cream, letting all the noise in the room escape my senses.

I looked over at Oishi again, who was just now starting to prepare his ice cream to make it suitable for eating. I just stared at him for a bit, eating my ice cream and unconsciously studying his face. He had a nice profile. I peeked at my mom, who, I suddenly realized, was also looking at my best friend, smiling. It was kind of sick. It was like she had a crush on him or something. I shuddered. No… She just wished her boys were such wonderful little gentlemen. I'd heard her say so, many times, almost every time Oishi left the house after a visit.

My focus shifted back to my ice cream. It quickly departed again. My ever-wandering thoughts and eyes kept drifting back to my doubles partner. Alright, this was getting annoying.

"Mom, can I be excused?" I blurted, standing up.

She nodded. "Put your plate in the sink, Kitten."

I headed to the kitchen door, and without even turning around, I knew what my friend was thinking. "Take your time,Oishi," I urged him nonchalantly. "Finish your ice cream without giving yourself a brain freeze, nya." I heard him set his spoon back in his dish with a "cling." He chuckled nervously as I closed the kitchen door behind me.

I knew I could use some time without Oishi in the proximity. I liked him; I couldn't help it. But it was a little scary when I couldn't focus my thoughts on anything else… Actually, the scary part was that my thoughts were focused on something: namely, him.

I set my dish in the sink and stared out the window just above the faucet. The sun was setting. I leaned over the edge of the counter and watched some birds fly away.

Well, enough of that.

I headed out the other door and up to my room. It was pretty odd seeing it so clean. For once, I knew where everything was. I observed a couple of photographs Oishi had dug up in my piles, framed, and set on my dresser, saying for each one, "You should put this where people can see it. It's a good picture. If you don't want it, I'll take it." I'd assured him that I wanted them all. Mostly, they were pictures of me and him I'd stuck in my tennis bag. There were ones from this year, eighth grade, seventh grade…

Ah, memories. The good, the bad, the strange… The first drawer of the dresser was filled with little mementos I couldn't let Oishi throw away. I opened it. Most of these things had odd sentimental value, I guess. No one really kept things like this…

I stopped. Something was missing. What about… Where was it?

I ruffled through the drawer. It had to be in here, right? I thought back. I hadn't seen it all day. But we'd been through everything… Did I lose it? Did one of my siblings take it? I'd kill 'em! Finally I just shook the drawer, hoping to hear the sound.

"Eiji, what are you doing?"

I looked up. It was Oishi, standing in my door. I shut the drawer and leaned against it, as if something might escape out of it and tell my secrets. "Nothing."

There was one of our rare, awkward pauses.

"Video games?" I grinned, feeling nervous.

"Vacuum first." Oishi plugged in the cleaning monster.

"Need help?"

"I got it." He immediately set to vacuuming. I read a tennis magazine on my bed. Yada, yada, articles, pictures, ads… Bo-ring. I stretched out for a second, yawned, and then folded my arms on top of the open magazine and laid my head there. I drifted. Soon I heard the vacuum turn off. Seconds later, I felt fingers scratching and rubbing my neck. "Mm…" Oh, yeah. That's the spot. I dangled my arms over the front of my bed and let my head drop onto the magazine with a distinct crinkling sound.

"Comfortable?" Oishi asked.

"Nya," I promptly replied, not moving. My voice was muffled.

My doubles partner had long since perfected the art of rubbing my neck without it tickling. I could have stayed there for hours, but I guess Oishi's fingers got tired and he stopped. "What happened to video games?" he asked.

"Nyo." That meant no.

"You sure?"

"Oh, alright." I lifted my face and slid halfway off the bed so I could reach the controllers and the system. I had to insert whatever racing game was lying around in the cabinet while balancing my upper body on one arm. Then I threw Oishi a controller and grabbed my own.

We played for hours. I whooped him thoroughly no matter what game we played. I wondered how he could sit through so many beatings and still be willing to play against me. It was like he was trying to outlast me. In the end, I was the one who got bored.

"We're done with that, nya." I dropped my controller on the floor. Oishi soon grabbed it and put both controllers back in the cabinet.

"What would you like to do now?" he asked me.

I thought for a moment. Wasn't that the question? What I wanted to do… What did I want to do?

I supposed we might as well stick with our usual routine. "I'll make popcorn." I jumped off the bed and walked downstairs.

After sticking the popcorn in the microwave, I headed over to the family room to look for a decent movie. I meant to grab "Spaceballs," but I don't think I was really paying attention when I grabbed, and I accidentally took whatever was next to it because I heard the microwave beep.

Once I got back upstairs, Oishi had already turned off the lights to enhance our movie-watching experience, or something. I closed the door behind me. My friend had also set up on my bed two of those weird-shaped, tri-panel pillows that one leans against to make it easier to sit. (Mom said they were called "boyfriend pillows"… Why the heck would anyone call them that?) In the dark, I placed the movie in the DVD player.

I quickly realized that it was the wrong movie. The title screen came up… "Somewhere in Time."

"Oops. Hang on; I grabbed the wrong movie." I started to get up to retrieve it and go downstairs to get the right one, when Oishi grabbed my arm.

"No, let's watch this one. I watched it with my sister and my mom one time. It's really good."

I sat down, being sure to give my friend a good, hard, cynical look. Somehow, I got the feeling that instead of the words "really good," he'd meant to say "utterly captivating." I had no idea that any self-respecting guy could enjoy chick flicks as much as I now fully realized Oishi did. But I sat down and decided to humor him. And we watched "Somewhere in Time." (1)

It was so obviously a chick flick that I all but lost my appetite for popcorn. I pushed the bowl closer to Oishi, so there would be less popcorn to come back and haunt me if I had to hurl. It was difficult to focus at first. "Hey! That's the guy from 'Superman'!" I blurted loudly.

"Shh," Oishi corrected me gently, completely entranced by the screen. He was really enjoying this.

I sighed and leaned back into the pillow. Why, oh why was I watching this? I tried to find whatever it was my best friend thought was so great…

The scary part was, I think I actually started to see it. I felt warm fuzzies… and angst…

About halfway through, Oishi touched my arm, which was currently hugging a small pillow. His whisper made me shiver. "Eiji, are you bored to death? We can watch something else."

"No, it's okay," I replied robotically. My eyes had somehow become glued to the screen. It was scary to be hooked. But I was.

I'd never watched anything really romantic before. I had seen movies with romance in them, but it was always overshadowed by comedy or action or both. This was just… all mush, all the time.

We arrived at the scene where the lovers were finally alone. There was candlelight. She let her hair down, and everyone but me would have known what was coming. I squirmed a bit and looked around the room a little, wondering if Mom would really be comfortable with me watching this. I'd seen worse, but she'd always made a point of watching it with me, so she could protect the innocence of her little baby. It felt kind of weird watching it alone… I looked back at the screen. It didn't really show anything bad… There was a piano playing in the background, and it all seemed so much sweeter and gentler than I had imagined it would be…

More warm fuzzies manifested somewhere inside of me. But they were different warm fuzzies this time. My heart started to beat a little faster. I hoped Oishi couldn't hear it or sense it, like I think he sometimes does. I looked over at him. He was still staring at the screen, under its evil spell. The glow of the TV fell softly blue on him… I felt my face get hot as I looked away.

Before I knew it, the movie was over. The screen went black, and Oishi turned the lights back on.

He had a sort of smirk on his face. "Did you hate it?"

"Yes!" I threw the pillow down at the floor and stood up for my rant. "That movie sucked! He dies! What kind of an ending is that?"

My comrade seemed surprised. I was, too. Neither of us could believe I had cared that much.

We decided to get ready for bed. When I had changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, I found myself alone in my room. A thought occurred to me. Oishi had long since stopped bringing a sleeping bag with him whenever he came to my house. First there was the whole thing where he liked to listen to my heartbeat every night, and then I got so used to it that I always begged him to provide extra warmth and hugging material. He always slept in my bed when he stayed at my house. Now… I wasn't so sure I wanted him to.

I crawled into bed. And, sure enough, when Oishi came in, he shut the door, turned out the lights, and crawled in next to me. I mentally told my heart to shut up. What was wrong with me?

"Eiji, you know you're absolutely my favorite person in the world, right?"

That was an odd question. But not entirely unlike Oishi. Still, it was an obvious attack on him by the warm fuzzies.

"Huh? Yeah," I replied with a smile. I really did like it when he said things like that.

"Come here." He held out his arm a little bit. I shifted accordingly and snuggled into that spot where I fit so well. Feeling back to normal, I wrapped my arms around him like I always did, using him as a substitute teddy bear. I started to fall asleep.

Maybe I imagined it, but I think he gently kissed my hair.

It wasn't weird. We were too close for it to be weird. Well, maybe it was a little weird… I didn't mind, though…

I felt the warm fuzzies surround me like little, glowing fireflies, and they silently hypnotized me until I drifted into sleep.

…

Of course, I was dreaming.

Oishi was there again, sitting in front of me. Oishi was always there. And the candlelight beckoned as it was reflected in his eyes. I pressed my cheek against his soft, sweet-smelling white shirt, and he held me. I heard a piano playing somewhere in the distance… Nothing happened; neither of us moved. Time had stopped.

When I woke up, I didn't really want to think about it. Especially while I was still in his arms. It didn't take Oishi long to wake up. I think he heard my heart beating.

"Eiji?" he mumbled.

I sat up and looked out the window. The sun was just rising. The light streamed golden through the window onto my bed. Onto us, the Golden Pair.

I tried to get my heart to stop beating so loudly.

"Is something wrong, Eiji?"

I couldn't look at him. I just couldn't. Not when his voice alone brought back the warm fuzzies… He propped himself up on one elbow so he could put his hand on my shoulder. I stopped breathing, as if holding my breath could keep him from reading my thoughts through his soft touch.

"Come on, Eiji. What's the matter?"

I let out my breath. "We shouldn't watch scary movies like that before bed, nya." Then I lowered myself back into the inviting arch of his arm. It was too early to be up anyway. I felt him smile at my half-sarcastic comment.

I fell asleep again to the slow, relaxing rhythm of Oishi stroking my hair.

Footnotes:

(1) I realize that "Spaceballs" and "Somewhere in Time" are both American movies (as is "Superman," mentioned later). Feel free to mentally replace the names with Japanese equivalents. Or just... bear with me...