You were supposed to get presents for girls.

That was a boyfriend thing. Boyfriends were supposed to give their girlfriends presents. Nice things. Like flowers and chocolates. White Day sort of gifts. But it wasn't White Day…and she didn't even have White Day in her country. She only had Valentine's Day and he had already given her a gift…and she had given him a gift…but he had to get her a gift now. Because he was away from her. Dad used to send gifts home all the time back when they had all lived in the Castle. That was what you were supposed to do when you had a girlfriend or a wife or a family or…or people that you had left behind. You got them gifts…and that was what Sho had to do…..

He just had to figure out what to get her.

He had a list in front of him. He had been working on it since before the sun came up. His body was still getting used to Moscow time. That and this had been keeping him up for a while. What to get her. How to be a good boyfriend. All the stuff that he had to do. All the stuff that she had probably been expecting of him. It was a lot of work. He would have to email her all the time and then call her when she got a phone and then he would have to visit her, too, and then when they grew up…well he didn't want to think about what would happen when he grew up. How he would have to marry her, probably, and then have a family with her and rule the world and…and stuff. It was a lot. The whole thing was a lot. This whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing.

But this was what he had to do.

Sho used his powers to lift a poptart over to his mouth. He chewed as he poured over his list. So far he just had the word presents on top and then drawings of gift boxes…and that wasn't helpful at all. He was supposed to go out with Fukuda today to find a present for Emmy…but he had no idea what to get her. The binoculars had been a good gift but he hadn't been thinking like a boyfriend, then, he had just been thinking like someone who didn't want his friend to fall out of trees. So he got her binoculars because they were useful…so maybe he should just get her useful things….like….like….

Poptarts!

He took another bite out of his poptart. Yeah, these were great gifts. These were….they were useful and tasty and a good food…and she needed to eat. She needed to eat like everyone else needed to eat and…and that might have been a good gift, something to eat, and…and they sold poptarts in Russian too…but they also had those in England so that might not have been a good gift at all…or maybe it would have been. Dad had gotten a girl he liked, gross by the way, a bunch of foods and stuff that she had liked…so food was a good gift. Dad might have been a jerk and stuff but also he'd been married to mom so he knew what to do….

Or something.

Well Fukuda knew what to do and dad knew what to do from Fukuda…so maybe he should just ask Fukuda what to do…but he was still asleep. He didn't get up until later and Sho didn't want to wake him up. It might make him even grumpier than normal. Sho didn't want him to be grumpy. He wanted him to be in a good mood so big sis could maybe even be allowed to come with…and that would be good….and she wouldn't be allowed to come with if Fukuda was in his usual grumpy mood…

So he didn't wake Fukuda.

It was way too early to be waking people up, anyway. The sun was barely up. Everyone was asleep. Sho could sense them when he closed his eyes. Big sis was asleep in bed…he could see her sort of with his aura. He could tell where people were but that was only the half of it, Shimazaki had said, the rest was seeing them. What they were doing, what they were going to do, and what you had to do in relation to all of that. Once you learned to see all of a person with your aura when you would be able to know what you had to. You would be able to predict what they were going to do and then once you could do that then you would be unstoppable.

Big sis was just in bed asleep.

She was on her stomach asleep. That was all that he could tell. That was boring, watching his sister sleep, so he decided to watch someone else. Dad's aura was just as bright as big sis'. He was….he didn't want to look at dad or think about dad…so he didn't. He let his aura look past dad through…that was a wall. Walls were harder to see because they weren't alive…but he was looking through it and now he could see…Fukuda was still asleep. He was laying down too. Everyone was asleep. It was early in the morning. Why would they be awake? It wasn't like anyone else had a girlfriend to worry about. Dad had mom but she was gone, big sis had broken up with Hatori, Fukuda had never had a girlfriend in the ten whole years Sho had known him, Shibata said that girls were scared of him, Hatori was scared of girls it seemed like, and Shimazaki….he didn't like Minegishi like that and nobody would ever like Minegishi like that because they were mean all the time….so really Sho was the only one with a reason to be awake at this crazy time.

He wasn't the only one awake.

He could feel Shimazaki. He could feel Shimazaki teleporting around. He let his aura rest on him. He was….Sho watched him moving. He was sitting at his desk and…those were his hands…and he was…he was combing his hair. Sho was proud of himself, there, for being able to see what he was doing. Sho watched him combing his hair so it stood upwards. He had seen Shimazaki do this before but in person. He covered his hair in that stuff that smelled nice. Not gel because that got all crusty, something with a 'P' sound…something with a 'P' sound that smelled so good when Sho got close to him…like the times when he rode on his back and…and it was so….

He should not have been thinking about this.

He should not have been thinking about the time when he had been riding on Shimazaki's back. He should not have been thinking about how it felt to have his arms around his shoulders and his face pressed into his hair…and it smelled so nice….and he always smelled really nice. Because he wore a lot of cologne, which was perfume for guys, and it smelled so good and…and he smelled so good and….and Sho should not have been thinking about this….

Shimazaki was looking back at him.

His aura slammed back into his body. His face was red. His face was red and his whole body was warmed and his poptart was crushed into crumbs….and he had to hide in his shirt…even though he knew that there was no point to hiding in his shirt because Shimazaki was still looking at him…and he couldn't hide and…and he felt…he felt a lot and…and he just….

He didn't know what to do.

He felt the energy around him shift. He still had his head in his shirt when he felt someone tap him on the back. He knew that he had to come out of his shirt. He knew that he had to come out and…and say something….and he would do that. In a minute. Once he just….could come out of his shirt. He could see Shimazaki with his aura. He could see him sitting cross legged on the ground next to him. He was reaching for something…and then Sho heard chewing. The poptart box. He couldn't see the poptart box. He could only see Shimazaki.

He couldn't see past him.

Sho opened his eyes. He was seeing with his eyes, now, and his aura was…he was making it stay tucked in. He kept his aura in and…and looked with his eyes. He could see through his shirt. Shimazaki was there and he was still in his nightclothes, well just sleep shorts, and…and Sho was looking at him. He was looking at Shimazaki and Shimazaki was looking….well he was looking at everything. He was looking at everything and he was eating one of Sho's cinnamon chocolate explosion poptarts…and Sho wanted to stop him….but also he didn't….

Sho didn't know what he wanted.

"I'm going to finish these off if you don't mind." Said Shimazaki. He missed the kid. He hadn't seen the kid in a while, he was bored, and it felt like the kid wanted to see him. This was good. They could go on some early morning adventures. The stray dogs should have been getting to sleep right about now. They could play with them and ride them…well he was too big to be riding dogs…but the kid wasn't. Yeah, it would be a good time. Well it would be if the kid ever stopped being…however he was being. Shimazaki hoped that this didn't turn into a regular thing with him, turtling up like this, because it was so boring.

And boring did not suit this kid at all.

"Yeah…um….you can have them." Said Sho. He pulled his shirt down from over his head. He felt…less warm and red….but still just so…not normal. He knew that he shouldn't have felt like this. He knew that he shouldn't have had a goldfish in his stomach when Shimazaki was near. It was weird. Sho…he was just so weird when it came to Shimazaki….

And Shimazaki had noticed.

Shimazaki had noticed how weird he was, before, and that was why Sho had been avoiding him since a few days ago. He had all but told Sho that he knew about the weird thoughts and the weird feeling and the feeling of the goldfish in his stomach….and Sho never wanted anyone to know! Nobody could ever know how weird he was and…and all of the stuff he wanted and…and all of the stuff that he didn't want and….and he just wanted to be left alone!

No he didn't.

"So, what's up?" asked Shimazaki as he unwrapped another chocolate cinnamon rectangle. He liked the wrappings. They sounded nice. He folded up the wrappings and put them in his pocket to listen to or be surprised by later.

"Nothing's up. You just came here and started eating my poptarts….and be quiet or my dad's going to hear." Said Sho. His eyes went right over to the hallway. Dad was awake and if he found out that Sho had someone over then he and Shimazaki would be in for it….and Sho remembered what had happened the last time that Shimazaki had been in for it. The way he had coughed up blood…and how he had trouble sanding up….and how scary it had been.

"Nah, he can't hear us. He's busy." Said Shimazaki. He made sure that Suzuki didn't notice him. Shimazaki knew how not to be noticed by people who were locked in their rooms with laptops on their laps. He didn't know or want to know what Suzuki got up to all alone…and also it wasn't Wednesday at two in the morning and he wasn't muttering something about a woman named Masami.

"Busy with what?" asked Sho

"Either playing videogames or shit you're too young to know about." Said Shimazaki

"Oh….ok….but still! If he catches you in here then you're in for it. Dad hates it when we have people over." Said Sho

"Toshi comes over all the time." Said Shimazaki

"Yeah…but they're big sis' friend…and I don't want to talk about them." Said Sho

"Alright…but I have no idea why you wouldn't want to talk about Toshi. You and them are cool now, right?" asked Shimazaki

"They hate me." Said Sho

"No, they don't. If they hated you then you would have been suffering by now. Besides, you're a kid. They won't admit it but they like kids. Toshi likes…well Toshi doesn't hate you." Said Shimazaki

"I don't want to talk about Minegishi." Said Sho

"Fine, fine, whatever you want." Said Shimazaki

"I want….I don't know what I want!" said Sho

"Well now who's going to get your dad in here?" asked Shimazaki

"Shut up." Said Sho

"You shut up." Said Shimazaki sticking his tongue out.

"Bastard." Said Sho. He stuck his tongue out farther.

"Double bastard." Said Shimazaki as best as he could. The kid thought that he could win? Hell no. As he had been told before he had an unnecessarily long tongue.

"Triple bastard." Said Sho sticking his tongue out as far as he could. He was going to win this. He always won when he did this back in school….when he had been little. Maybe he had been too little…or maybe he was too big for this now. He was ten but…but he was having fun…and maybe that was all that mattered.

"Quarduple bastard." Said Shimazaki. He knew that he was being childish but, hey, kids had the best lives. They got to live in blissful ignorance of how terrible and terribly boring life was. Even when he had been a kid he hadn't had any idea how terrible his life had been. No, he was going to be as childish as he wanted to. He was Shimazaki Ryou. Who the hell thought that they could tell him what to do…well aside from the crazy guy who had fathered his ten year old best friend….somehow.

"Infinity bastard." Said Sho. He bit his tongue but it was worth it. Good. He won. You couldn't beat infinity. Well you could do double infinity but he and big sis had ruled that illegal back when they had been four and five…well mom had told them to make it illegal because they had just been going over and over again saying double infinity.

"Hey, you can't just go right to infinity. You have to work up to there. You've got to go to quintuple and then sextuple and then-" said Shimazaki

"I don't have time for that. I have important stuff I have to do." Said Sho. He felt that weird feeling in his stomach and now he just needed…he needed to…to get back to what he had been doing. Figuring out what to get his girlfriend…who he liked…and not his best friend….who he didn't like. Not like that. Not in the way where he wanted Shimazaki to just lean over and just….he was NOT thinking about that!

"Ooh, can I make it more difficult for you?" asked Shimazaki as he picked up one of Sho's pieces of paper. Hey! He'd gotten Sho this! This really was some good feeling paper.

"You already are." Said Sho taking his paper back. He tried to sound all bored and mean and stuff, like Minegishi, because apparently that was what he liked. He liked people who were mean and boring and told him to go away and stuff.

"Hey, you're the one who's been staring at me all morning. What's up with that? I don't see you for days and days-" said Shimazaki. What was with this kid? Well he had no idea what it was that had gotten into him but he needed to help him and stuff because he was not going to be best friends with a boring kid.

"You can't see at all." said Sho. Fine. If he wanted someone to be mean to him then Sho could be mean. If that was what he wanted and stuff. Sho didn't know why he wanted that, why he cared so much about that, why he just wanted someone to be mean to him like that….

"Ok, ok, I walked into that one…but still. What's up? You never stare like that." Said Shimazaki. This kid. This kid was so…he didn't know. He had better not have been turning into a teenager this early. Nope. He was not dealing with a sullen teenager. He hadn't even been a sullen teenager back when he'd been a teenager. He'd been….his memory of that time in his life was spotty…but he hadn't been sullen. Not even when all of that shit went down….so he was not going to let this kid end up sullen and boring!

"I didn't mean to stare. You were just the only person up and….stuff." said Sho. He played with his pajama shirt. He had to do something. He had to move so he played with the hole in his pajamas shirt. He just…he couldn't sit still and big sis was going to be so mad about him making the hole worse since they didn't make these anymore, they were a Christmas exclusive, and he didn't want to make her mad…well big sis' version of mad where she sighed and pretended that everything was ok when it wasn't. He didn't want to make her mad but….but he just had to move. Maybe if he moved then the goldfish in his stomach would leave him in peace already.

"Fair enough, but be careful with that. You're going to end up sensing shit that you never wanted to sense if you just go looking around with your aura like that." Said Shimazaki

"All I saw was you combing your hair." Said Sho

"Yeah, well, I do a lot worse in my life than comb my hair." Said Shimazaki

"Fine, I won't do that anymore….sorry." said Sho

"No, no, I didn't say never do it again I just said be careful and shit." Said Shimazaki

"But how do I be careful?" asked Sho

"That's…hard to explain….it's like….if I sense something that I don't want to sense then I just dip…it's like…when you feel something gross so you pull your hand away. Like you're looking through the fridge and you end up feeling someone's leftovers that they forgot about a month ago and now they've come to life. It's like that." Said Shimazaki. God, this was hard. It was weird, actually, to be on the other side of this. How many times had sighted people tried to explain color to him? More times than he could count. It was hard to explain a sense, especially to someone who didn't have that sense, even though the kid sort of had that sense. He could see other espers but that was about it. He couldn't see where the floor met the wall, he couldn't see where the rug ended, he couldn't see the normal person walking his dog outside the window, he couldn't see the roaches making their way through the floorboards, he couldn't see the birds on the windowsill of the apartment below them. He could only see what was loud, what as easy to feel, and not….it was very hard to describe.

"I have no idea what you mean." Said Sho. He felt sort of like how Shimazaki must have back when Sho had been trying to explain color to him. Color was just…color. He had tried using crayons and skittles and stuff but in the end Shimazaki had never learned what color was and Sho had learned that he was not a good teacher.

"Eh, ask me again later when I'm more awake. It's early, right? It feels early…but then again everyone might be sleeping in." said Shimazaki with a stretch. He hadn't asked his phone what time it was. It didn't matter. Suzuki might not have even needed him that day. This might have just been a chill with the kid sort of day….and those were the best days ever. Almost as good as chill with Toshi days. Those were heaven on Earth.

"No, it's early. My dad isn't even out of bed yet." Said Sho

"So what's go you awake so early? Drawing pictures?" asked Shimazaki. He dragged his fingers across the page the kid had been drawing on. He felt…he felt wax…and he had no clue how to tell what the kid had drawn. That was the one thing he really disliked about not being able to see, that and not being able to tell what the hell was in cans and boxes and shit, not being able to see what the kid drew. He was supposedly a very good artist and shit.

"I just…I'm trying to figure out what to get my girlfriend….because that's what you're supposed to do, I guess. I mean my dad would bring me and big sis things back from his trips…and mom too…but don't tell him I was talking about mom." Said Sho

"Hey, I don't tell him anything." Said Shimazaki

"Ok…thanks. Um….hey, Shimazaki? Do you…do you know what I'm supposed to get her? I mean….I guess food because she needs to eat to live…but that's not, like, a gift that you get a girl…so I'm stuck." Said Sho. Shimazaki probably knew a lot about girls. He was always giving Sho advice and stuff. Sho didn't really want that advice most of the time but…but he did know a lot. Why wouldn't he? He was so cool. He had probably kissed a million girls and stuff. He was always so cool and he had all of those cool tattoos and he was always up for something fun and…and stuff…and Sho would have definitely been his girlfriend if he had book Shoko instead of Sho….but he was Sho so he was not going to think about that anymore.

"Coke….wait, you still ten?" asked Shimazaki

"My birthday is still in December." Said Sho. Did Shimazaki forget his birthday? Had Shimazaki just…forgotten? Was he going to just…not say happy birthday next year? Was he going to just…just…Sho knew his birthday! It was in October! He knew Shimazaki's birthday and he…and he had no idea how Shimazaki could have just….

There was a hand on his back.

"December first." Said Shimazaki. This kid was way too high strung. He was like an overfilled balloon or an over stuffed….whatever that chicken thing that Shibata had made that had exploded in the oven but still tasted so good…God, he needed to eat more garlic butter…after he got the kid out of this funk he was in.

"Thanks…I don't know why I care but thanks. I just…you can remember or not remember my birthday. I don't care. It's just a birthday. It's not like I care that you remember my birthday or that you got me this really good paper or…or anything…or um…um…" said Sho. Shimazaki hand was still on his back and he just…he still had his hand there and Sho couldn't think and…and now there was a hand messing up his already messy hair.

"Yeah, no coke for you. I mean it's good shit but, yeah, I don't think you need coke. Your sister maybe but definitely not you." Said Shimazaki. God, what a shit show that would be. No, if anything this kid needed to be smoked down…but later on, not now.

"Emmy likes carbonated fruit punch better anyway." Said Sho. He had no idea why Shimazaki was laughing now, he didn't think that he'd said anything funny, but he was happy to hear him laugh.

"You know what? Just get her something she likes. That's just about what I know. I don't really get women gifts. I mean I've done the White Day thing and the Valentine's Day thing and shit but mostly I just stick to boxes of chocolate and shit. Not that Toshi minds. They love dark chocolate. They pretend that they don't but they love it." Said Shimazaki. Maybe he needed to mention Toshi less, he was getting some seriously pissed off vibes from the kid, but he couldn't help it. Toshi was just…Toshi. Toshi was amazing and he just…always wanted to be talking about Toshi. When he wasn't talking about Toshi he was trying to talk about Toshi and when he was talking about Toshi he was trying to keep the conversation about Toshi for as long as possible.

God, he had problems.

And so did the kid, apparently, if his aura was anything to go off of. God, why did the kid have to have a crush on him of all people? He had better not get all pissy and jealous like this all the time. Nope. He was not going to deal with that. The kid needed to be fun and to stay fun. He could be sullen and pissy in his teenage years like everyone else. Not now when he was ten and full of energy and fun and no judgement when it came to his own personal safety.

"I don't want to talk about Minegishi…and why do you keep on calling them by their given name when you know that they hate it?" asked Sho. He had his arms crossed and his legs crossed and he was just….not happy. Just because…for reasons. Reasonable reasons.

"Toshi doesn't hate it when I call them Toshi. It's…sort of complicated and heavy and not something that I'm going to get into with a kid…a kid who is my best friend. You. You're my best friend and only my best friend and nothing but my best friend." Said Shimazaki. There. That was a tactful way of handling that. He knew how to be tactful. He had tact. Shibata didn't know shit. He had all the tact in the world. He knew when to and not to tell the kid stuff and he knew not to tell the kid that, yeah, he had a crush on him but nothing could ever come of it. He wasn't going to just punch him in the heart like that. No, he was going to gently poke him in the heart until he dropped whatever these feelings were.

"Yeah, I get it. We're friends. I know that we're friends so you don't have to keep on saying that we're friends….and I already said that I don't want to talk about Minegishi." Said Sho

"Ok, ok, whatever you want. Just remember that you and I are best friends, Toshi gets their own category, and you don't have to be jealous." Said Shimazaki. There. He was the master of handling sensitive topics. Shibata didn't know jack shit. Shimazaki knew how to handle something as delicate and sensitive as this kid with his explosion anger issues and stuff. He was the best at handling this shit!

Or maybe not because he was hiding in his shirt again.

"I'm not jealous of Minegishi. I don't care that they're your friend too or that you let them call you by their given name or…or any other stuff that you let them do. I don't care." Said Sho from inside of his shirt. He had made the hole way to big. He could see out of it now like I was a shirt window. It didn't matter. Shimazaki was still looking at him anyway.

"Uh-huh, sure you don't care. That's why you're all turtled up in your shirt." Said Shimazaki. He pulled the kid's shirt down from over his head. Nuh-huh. None of that. He could be sullen when he got to be older, when he turned into teenage Sho. Right now he didn't want teenage Sho, he wanted kid Sho, and that was what he was going to get.

"Um….my head was…cold." Said Sho. He was warm, very warm, and he didn't know why. He was just so warm and…and he felt weird. Like…like the goldfish in his stomach had eaten a bunch of mentos…and then drank some soda….and then went to a trampoline park…and stuff….and he had no clue what this was or how to make it go away….and he needed to make it go away because this was not the way to feel about his friend at all….

Not at all.

"Then get a hat, don't hide in your shirt. Come on, I thought that you didn't hide from anything. God, how could my teachings have fallen on deaf ears." Said Shimazaki with a shake of his head.

"I-I don't hide from anything! I don't hide and…and I am not jealous of Minegishi. I swear on good set of colored pencils." Said Sho. He was not jealous…he just wanted to be as good of friends with Shimazaki as Minegishi was, that was all, he didn't want to hold his hand or kiss him or call him Ryou or any of that other stuff…he really didn't!

"Ok, you're not jealous of Toshi. I get it. You are not, have never been, and will not ever be jealous of Minegishi Toshiki. I read you loud and clear." Said Shimazaki as he raised his hands up in surrender.

"Good." Said Sho. There. Now they could forget about all of this…and he could forget about this weird feeling that he had….that wasn't gone yet. He wanted….he wanted to be near Shimazaki…but he was already right there…but he wanted to be…closer? It made no sense. He made no sense.

"You know you don't have to be. You can call me Ryou if you want to. I mean I already call you Sho so it had might as well go both ways." Said Shimazaki. If the kid was so hung up on calling him by his given name then he could do that. He didn't really care. He got called a lot worse than 'Ryou' on a regular basis.

"Um….ok. Ry-Ryou…" said Sho. He was as red as his aura…which was showing…and also pretty red. Why was he so red? It was just a name. Ryou. There were a lot of people called 'Ryou' in the world. He had met a Ryou before back in school and a Ryoko too….so he shouldn't have been all…like this…but it was…it was his GIVEN name…and it was just…

Sho felt like he was going to throw up.

But in a good way. He felt…wow. Wow was the only word for how he felt. He wanted…he wanted to run up the wall and across the ceiling. He wanted to fly through the air. He wanted to swing from the ceiling fan…but he wouldn't because there was no way he was light enough to be able to do that…but still! His first name! Wow! Just…it felt like Christmas and his birthday were happening at the SAME TIME!

"So about this girlfriend of yours. I'd say just get her something she likes. That shit goes a lot farther than just flowers and chocolate and all of that other shit you're supposed to get them. Get her something that you know she'll like and if she likes you then she'll like it and then…well you're still ten but when you get older then you'll get it. Anyway your dad's getting up so I'm going to get far away from him. If you need me I'll be around Moscow petting stray dogs. Do svidanya." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. He hadn't been lying, he really did not want to have to deal with Suzuki first thing in the morning, but he also didn't want to deal with whatever that kid had been feeling towards him. God, he hated feelings. There had to be some way to make this stop…he'd figure it out later. Right now he had stuff to do. Important stuff involving getting dressed and petting stray dogs that may or may not have had fleas.

"Um…Russian goodbye too." Said Sho. He stared at the spot where Shimazaki had been. He wanted…he wanted to…he didn't know. Follow him? Be with him? Turn back time so they could be together for longer? He just…he didn't get it. He didn't get himself or his feelings and…and he just needed….he needed…

He needed to get back to thinking up gifts for Emmy because she was his girlfriend and he was supposed to get her things. So that was what he was going to do. Get presents for girls, always girls, and only girls.

So that was what he had to do.