Title: Life After

Author: Inspired Seeker

Rating: PG-13

Number of Words: 1,648

"This" Denotes speech while

"This" Denotes thought

Chapter 4

Kei couldn't concentrate on the lesson today. He tried very hard to focus on that bit about Kanji structure, but eventually sighed in defeat. It was only a few days before the wedding day, and they haven't prepared yet!

He was experiencing a really bad case of wedding jitters.

"Oh man, and I thought the first time was rough…"

"What is?"

Kei turned his head and saw that is was Matagu who asked him. He just gave his friend a weary smile and sighed.

"The we- I mean, the first time I pulled an all-nighter. Yeah, that's it."

Matagu gave him a curious look, but decided not to press further. He opted to ask him later about it.

Kei subtly sighed in relief. He was silently thanking the powers-that-be for the smooth save.

"That was a close one. It's a good thing Mizuho didn't hear that, or I'll be getting an earful later…" He involuntarily cringed at the thought.

"Hey Kei, do you want to join me and the guys in a trip to town this Sunday?" Matagu asked Kei, hoping that he would come.

"I'd love to, but I can't. I have some… important affairs to take care of." Kei could see that Matagu was clearly disappointed by the response.

"What important matt-." As if on cue, the bell rang, signifying the end of the first break. Both friends just looked at each other.

"It seems that we'll have to save this conversation later. See ya!" Kei said, rushing off towards the classroom. Matagu was left standing there, thinking about Kei's earlier actions.

"He's acting strange… Is he hiding something?"

"I think the others are beginning to suspect something." Kei furtively whispered at Mizuho. His fiancée just sighed.

"Well, it can't be helped I guess, since your spending more and more time with me and less time with them."

Kei took this chance to tease her. "Why? Don't you like it that way?"

"Well, erm… I-" Mizuho was stumbling over her words. She obviously fell for Kei's ploy.

The young Kusanagi, pleased that he had tricked Mizuho, laughed at her. Mizuho look confused at first, before she bopped him. After a few seconds, she joined him in his laughter. They found themselves in an embrace not long after.

"So, what are we going to do about them?" Kei asked, pulling his fiancée to his lap. She sighed contentedly.

"We'll worry about that later." Mizuho smiled up at him as she gave him a deep kiss.

"What? He can't join us… AGAIN?" Hyosuke said incredulously, scratching the back of his head. The others just sighed.

"Don't you notice? He's been acting strange these past few days. He rarely goes home with us anymore!" Koishi said to the group. She too was worried with Kei's recent behavior.

"When you think about it, yeah, you're right…" Hyosuke said. The others looked at him with wide eyes.

"Is he really that thick?" Hyosuke looked strangely at the looks being given to him, but continued on anyway.

"But I have a plan to uncover the truth!" He exclaimed, grinning wildly. The others just sweat dropped.

"We should follow him home!" Suprisingly, It was Ichigo who spoke next.

"Isn't that bad? I mean, we're going to be invading his privacy if we do follow him." But Hyosuke was apparently prepared by that.

"Nonsense! We can always say that we were just concerned with his welfare!" The rest of the group nodded thoughtfully. Most of them still had their reservations about the whole thing, but their curiosity was getting the best of them.

As Kei rounded the corner from the school gate, a couple of eyes were following him.

They had unanimously decided to follow Kei and uncover the truth behind his odd behavior.

"Are you sure we're supposed to be doing this?" Matagu said to the others a bit too loudly.

Kei suddenly stopped when he heard a voice.

"Was that Matagu's voice?" He asked himself as he scanned the area. Seeing nobody behind him, he continued on, oblivious to the fact that he was being followed.

"Sorry." Matagu said sheepishly.

The others simply issued a low growl and stared daggers at him.

Mizuho was getting slightly worried about Kei. They had agreed to change the routes they take on going home and changing the usual time they go home from school.

Still, she couldn't push back the nagging feelings at the back of her mind.

"Marie, please locate Kei for me. This is a priority one."

The little being began to "say" something unintelligible to Mizuho. The young Kazami sighed in relief.

"Still in the school vicinity, I see…" Then a slight frown marred her features. "Could you please check if there's someone following Kei?"

A few tense moments pass before Marie reported his findings. Purple eyes widened.

Kei was still trotting down the alternate route to home; still oblivious to the people following him. He jumped back slightly when a familiar yellow being suddenly appeared before him.

"Marie?" Kei looked around for a few moments. He heard a few rustling noises, but he shrugged them off.

"What is that?"

"Maybe it's a toy."

"What are you doing here?" Kei asked the little supercomputer as it floated in front of him. It started to mutter something unintelligible again but fortunately, Kei knew enough of its system's knowledge to understand what it was trying to say.

"What? I'm being followed?" Kei asked the little being in a low voice. Marie made a sound akin to agreement. Kei just sighed.

"Thank you, Marie." The small being didn't respond as it left as quickly as it had appeared in the first place.

When he turned his head to the left he was certain he saw a wisp of blonde hair. Deciding that he needed an explanation, he began to walk towards the bushes, fairly certain that his spying friends were hiding behind them.

"Quick! He's walking this wa-" But it was too late.

"Guys, come out, I know your there." Kei's stern voice reverberated through the woods. His friends sighed dejectedly as they faced Kei.

"Why were you following me?"

"Because we were concerned! You tend to disappear during breaks, and you rarely spend time with us!"

Kei was surprised by the outburst but pressed on.

"Well, I'm sorry for that… but it doesn't give you a right to spy on me!"

His friends rarely saw Kei angry, and this was the few times they could say that he was downright furious. They inched back a little as Kei gave them a penetrating glare.

Kei noticed their movement and decided that now was not the time to get angry. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to smile at them.

"Please don't do this next time, alright? I'll see you in the morning." Kei said with finality as he turned away from them.

Nobody spoke a word or moved an inch for a few moments as they saw Kei's retreating figure. They couldn't believe they would easily be caught like that and the fact Kei almost lost their temper at them.

Four glares were than directed to Hyosuke. The said man felt a lump in his throat.

"If it wasn't for this "brilliant" idea of yours, we wouldn't have gotten into trouble!"

"I'm sorry alright! I just wanted to know why Kei was acting strange!"

The rest of the group began bickering as they argued about who to blame. Only Matagu and Ichigo were the ones who weren't involved.

"He really must be hiding something."

Both unknowingly shared the same thought.

Kei was slowly walking towards home, fairly certain that no one was watching him. But being the worrywart that he is, he couldn't help but think that they might be lurking in the corner, lulling him in a false sense of calm as they discover the secret he had painstakingly guarded.

The young Kusanagi tried to clear his mind of the worries that clouded him. He almost succeeded, but one thought really alarmed him.

"They must be on to me."

Author's note: I'm sorry for the late chapter, but my Christmas vacation is almost nearing its end, and I was forced to complete my pending school work. Anyways, this chapter was written so I can justify Kei's relationship with his friends in future chapters and, more, importantly, give me a chance to expound on his friend's feelings when they finally find out about his relationship with Mizuho.

I would like to thank the following people:

golden-eyedwolf842 – Thank you! And yes, this fic still has a long ways to go before completion!

mr.kusanagi – Thank you for reading! I actually got the motivation to make a 'continuation' fic when I felt that the end of the series (including the OAV) kept me hanging.

BattleAngelKurumi – Thanks! And I wholeheartedly agree about that "Priority One" thing…

SophisticatedAlexir – Thank you! Once I get the time, I will drop a review on your fics!

Ominae – Thank you for reading! I shall be checking out your other stories as well.

BakaOtaku173 – Thank you! I was actually considering of doing it myself, but since I have already started using English purely, it may become a bit odd if I start using them now but…

Once I get halfway through to the story, I shall revise them so it'll have a more Japanese feel to it!

Arimi Kinamoto – Thanks for reading! I like the idea, so I'm taking it into consideration…

And to those who have read yet have not dropped a review, I thank you for reading!

As always, constructive criticism, comments and suggestions are most welcome!