Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it. Also, I'm sorry. I wanted to get this loaded on Wednesday, but it wasn't allowing me to get it loaded into Document Manager. 'sigh' Well what can I say, if you can't load it you can't load it. Still I feel bad about that.

Chapter 10: Fading Pink Memories
That video had completely taken her by surprise.

Every time she thought back to seeing him up there on stage singing that song... It was almost as though a part of her denied the fact that the person on the video was Ryuichi. Still, seeing him up there on stage... it was a completely different side of his personality.

He was so... serious.

Yet a part of her acknowledged the fact that this was Ryuichi. She instinctively knew it. The man on stage wasn't just Ryuichi but it was his true self.

What could be so painful that he would have to hide it behind that happy facade?

This was definitely difficult, and complicated. Looking out over her gossiping classroom she was wondering just how complicated things were really going to get.

"Shirokawa-sensei, how do you know Ryu-chan?"

"Is he coming back today?"

This was supposed to be a class not a...

"Shirokawa-sensei, I told my mother what happened yesterday! She was very surprised!" The little girl kept rambling on and on with the rest of the class members about how exciting the day before was Narumi was starting to get a headache...

Wait a minute... she had a strong feeling of dread. Wasn't...?

"Miwa-chan? Isn't your mother a good friend with the head of the PTA? " Narumi could hardly get the choked words out of her mouth. Every teacher here knew that under no circumstances did you do something to displease her.

"Class please!"

Normally, she would have a nice quiet night to recover from the mess of the day... but Toya had said he was going to come and he always kept his work. The knowledge of having both of them under her roof tonight left Narumi with a feeling of exhaustion. This was going to be a long night.

"Segushi-san, please!!! It would be a lot of fun with you there! Shindo-san said he was going to try and bring Eiri-san! Please!" Ryuichi begged.

Yuki was coming? Well, well, well. This sounded interesting. He thought back on that polite schoolteacher he had met the day before and of how things had fallen together. It had all gone according to plan; though he had been a bit harsher than he had originally intended on being. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to go. Still Mika did have plans for the evening... he would have to discuss it with her. Still if her brother was going to be there...

"Perhaps. We'll see."

Ryuichi smiled brightly at his friend. "I can't wait!"

"By the way," Tohma interrupted. He was watching Ryuichi –san very carefully, with his normal friendly expression on his face. "It's not like you to throw a moving in party like this, is their something else going on?"

"Not really." Ryuichi smiled happily. They were going to be there. They were all going to be there! He was so happy.

What did he need to do anyway to get ready for this? Food! There must be lots of food! Drinks too...

Tohma could tell that Ryuichi was thinking pretty hard. It was strange the only times he had ever seen him that way was when he was singing or in an exceedingly depressed mood. Though that never lasted for very long. After all he was the type of guy that got bored rather easily. Especially, when it came to deep thought on things other than music.

He watched as Ryuichi walked out of the room. It was the first time he had ever seen Ryuichi leave Kumaguro behind.

"Is he that worried about her?" He whispered softly to himself. He picked up the pink Kuma that was sitting on his desk, and studied it for a minute. He noticed a very poorly sewn seem at the base of it's neck. It looked like it had just been done recently, and it didn't look like the neat stitches that Ryuichi used to mend him whenever he tore.

Did he actually let her fix Kumaguro? It was rare for him to let anyone else touch the rabbit he must really trust her. Then again, considering how they met she was probably the first person who had gone out of their way to help him.

Would this be good for him? Had he made a mistake in arranging things? Shirokawa-san was probably very mad at him right about now. He just hoped that what he had done was the best thing for Nittle Grasper, and she didn't do anything to hurt his partner.

Tohma leaned back in his chair and studied the ceiling. When it came to the few people he cared about he was very protective. For Yuki, he knew he had a lot to make up for. He couldn't protect him back then. That was something he would make up for now.

Ryuichi... to Tohma Ryuichi was his partner. He supposed he felt protective of him since he seemed so unable to take care of himself. Perhaps, in someway, it reminded him of both the Yuki and him of the past. Still that side of them both had led them down a road that he never wished to have anyone else go down. He didn't want to see Ryuichi suffer. Tohma didn't really know anything about Ryuichi's past before he joined Nittle Grasper, and it didn't worry him any. It must have been such a carefree existence. After all when you suffer, your heart hardens. At least that was what Tohma had learned.

He'd make sure Ryuichi got Kumaguro back tonight, if he didn't see him for the last 30 minutes of the day. Tohma, after all, was worried. Ryuichi was the kind of person that needed to be protected, and he didn't believe that this Shirokawa person was able to do it properly. Still, Ryuichi was happy. He would have to wait and see what happened.

Chapter 11: