Yay for sleep! It's amazing what three little hours can do for someone completely ehxausted...Anyway, on the chappy, I guess. I actually don't feel like ranting right now, so maybe I'll do it later. Enjoy!

freya kurenai: Glad you liked it so much! I took your advice and went to bed when I got home today, so now I'm actually awake enough for some of this to (hopefully) make sense. Can't wait to see your fic! Thanks for reviewing!

Warning: Not so much a warning, as a note, but anyway...yeah. This chapter is going to be a lot like the previous one in the sense that there's no real point to it. I just don't want to rush into this whole thing, and Eyes and Kanone need to have a little fun before the former is hospitalized for who knows how long. And no...I'm not talking about sex when I say fun (though I'm sure that'll be in there somewhere), I just mean going out and having a good time, perhaps with Kousuke, Rio, and Ryoko, who knows? Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm not getting into all that stuff right yet, but still read this chappy; there's a semi-important discussion that Eyes and Kanone have that the subject of will show up in later chapters, it's kind of a theme of this fic (yeah, that's right...I have a theme). That's all!

I figured some kind of break between the story and rantings/responses would do everyone a world of good. I only just realized that it was so bunched together, so I apologize for that!

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After a few more hours of shopping, Callia had numerous bags filled with anything and everything she could ever want; most of it completely useless and a waste of Kanone's money. Kanone, however, wasn't concerned with the money (when was he ever?). No, Kanone was trying to figure out a way to get Eyes back. Their last little conversation had been bugging him for quite some time, and Eyes' slightly cocky smirk was only adding insult to injury. Kanone stopped worrying about it, though, and began to enjoy the younger one's attitude. Kanone thought back to when Eyes first arrived home, and then thought about how he acted now. Saying that the boy had done a 180 was an understatement. Kanone smirked as he glanced to the object of his thoughts, who was walking beside him, their fingers intertwined with each other's. Kanone sighed softly, "How could a boy this perfect have to suffer such a terrible fate?" He silently wondered.

Said boy now glanced to him, "What is it?" He asked.

Kanone shook his head, "Just thinking." He replied.

This, however, didn't satisfy Eyes, "About what?" He asked, knowing that it would bug Kanone that he wouldn't just drop it.

Which it did, but Kanone just smiled, "About how perfect you are." He replied, honestly.

Eyes smirked, "I thought you said you were thinking about me, not some other boy."

Kanone knew it was only met as a joke, but this statement disturbed him more than anything. Kanone stopped walking, which forced Eyes to do the same since they were still holding hands, "Eyes, I was being honest." Kanone told him, looking straight into his uncommonly blue eyes.

Eyes stared straight back, "Of course you were, Kanone, you always are. I, however, was joking, I know how delusional you are in thinking that I'm perfect. Don't worry, I'll go along with it."

This didn't help Kanone's mood any, "Why don't you believe me when I tell you that you're perfect? Whose opinion can you really trust besides mine and your mother's, anyway?"

Eyes thought about it, "No one's I suppose, except my own, of course. And like it or not, I believe that I am far from perfect."

"Well, of course your opinion matters, Eyes, but what exactly has shaped that belief? You've been told your whole life that you're worthless, so of course that's what you're going to believe. Even if you say that you know all those idiots were lying to you, there's still some small part of you that believes them."

"That's not true, Kanone." Eyes said, though he was beginning to think that maybe Kanone was right, "I know I'm not worthless..." He trailed off, what was he? He honestly didn't know, and didn't think he could believe Kanone. He was sure the latter was completely serious when he said that Eyes was perfect, but he influenced by many other factors that Eyes wasn't. For one, he was in love with the boy, of course he was going to have such a good opinion of him.

"Then what do you think you are?" Kanone asked Eyes, "If you're not worthless, and you're not perfect, what are you?"

"I...I don't know." Eyes was beginning to hate this cnoversation, and looked around for a way to end it. He first thought of his mother, but then remembered that, after a while, Kanone had just given her some money and told her to have fun. That had been about an hour ago, and they hadn't seen her since. Finding no other way out of the conversation, Eyes turned back to Kanone, "Does it really matter what I think of myself?"

Kanone looked at him oddly, "Of course it does.While it doesn't always matter what others think of you, it does matter what you think of yourself."

Eyes finally found a way to turn the conversation around, "What do you think of yourself, Kanone?"

Kanone smirked, "I think pretty highly of myself, and I'm not trying to sound like I'm better than everyone, that's just the opinion I have. I see that I make everyone around me happy, so I think I'm a pretty good person. Now then, what do you think of yourself, Eyes?"

Eyes was about to answer that he really didn't know, but figured Kanone deserved at least some though on the subject, "I suppose I'm very strong." Eyes replied, finding it weird to talk about himself this way, "Not neccessarily physically, but emotionally. Giving all I've been through, I think I've handled it all rather well. I know that I make you happy, and that's enough for me to know that there must be some good in me. Seeing how much you love me, and how highly you think of me, I suppose I should do the same. So, I suppose I do have a pretty good opinon of myself."

Kanone wasn't satisfied by this, though, "You suppose? You shouldn't be so unsure of yourself, Eyes. When you say things like that, it makes people doubt you because it shows doubt in yourself. Don't suppose you have a good opinion of yourself, know you do."

Eyes sighed, why was Kanone making this so difficult? He didn't even really know why Kanone was doing this, though he had some idea. With everything that was going to happen with his surgeries, and all of that, Kanone probably just wanted to make sure Eyes would be able to handle all of it, "I do think I'm a good person." Eyes said, hoping that it would be convincing enough, and then realized that it should be if he believed it. Everything he had said was true, so why did he still feel like he wasn't that great of a person?

Kanone heard his tone, and knew he was lying. The statement had sounded forced, "Well, I know you're a good person Eyes, I just wish you would think the same. Obviously you don't though, and I don't know how to change that. Just know that I'll always think you're a wonderful person, and when you realize that I'm right, tell me." Eyes looked to Kanone, and was about to object, but decided against it. What would be the use when he was right? The next thing he thought to do was to apologize for not believing Kanone. That ended in silence as well, since he knew Kanone would tell him not to apologize for believing what he does. So, Eyes stayed silent, just looking at Kanone, trying to figure out what to say or do next.

Then Eyes leaned in and kissed Kanone gently. The older boy pulled him closer and savored the contact while it lasted. All too quickly it was over, and Eyes looked up to Kanone, "I might not be able to believe you yet, but I'll always trust your judgement."

Kanone smiled, "Then that'll have to be enough, for now." Eyes nodded and leaned his head on Kanone's chest, closing his eyes. (A/N: This is about the time that these sappy scenes get broken up, right? Okay, then that's what we'll do!)

"Sorry to break up this wonderful little moment." Callia said, smirking at the two, "I'm ready to go whenever you two are." She informed them.

Kanone nodded and looked to Eyes, "You ready to go?" Eyes nodded again, and stepped away from Kanone a little so that they could start walking. Kanone, however, had other plans. He wrapped his arm around Eyes' shoulders and pulled the smaller boy to him. Eyes rested his head on Kanone's shoulder as they began the walk back home, finding the world quite interesting at this angle. Callia followed the two, until Kanone turned his head in her direction, "So, did you have fun?"

Callia stepped up her pace for a second to arrive at Kanone's side, then fell in sync with the boys, "I had a great time!" She said, still as excited as she was when they first arrived, "Thank you for bringing me here." She also silently thanked him for the money he gave her, but knew that Kanone was too modest for that.

Kanone smiled, "Don't thank me, it was Eyes' idea." He reminded her.

Perhaps he was too modest, "Well, then thank you." Callia said, looking to her son.

Of course, Eyes had learned everything from Kanone, and was just as modest, "Kanone's the one who brought us, I only came up with the idea."

Callia giggled at Kanone's annoyed expression at the credit once again being passed back to him, "Let's just call it a team effort." He suggested. Callia and Eyes seemed satisfied with this, and they continued their walk home in a comfortable silence.

When they returned home, who was there but the only three that could ruin Kanone's good mood if they so chose to, "Rio, Ryoko, Kousuke." Kanone greeted the three, "To what do I owe ths pleasure?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kousuke grinned, knowing how much they bugged Kanone. True, they were friends, but the only time Kanone ever saw the three lately was when they wanted something, "Don't worry Kanone, we only wanted to ask you something." The redhead informed him.

Kanone didn't seem any less worried, "That's all you ever do is ask me for things." The brunette replied.

"But we don't want anything today, Kanone, just to ask you a question." Rio explained.

Kanone seriously doubted that she was telling the truth, "Then what's the question?" Kanone wondered.

"We were just wondering if you wanted to go out with us tonight." Kousuke told him.

"Sorry, but if you haven't noticed, I'm with Eyes." Kanone joked.

"Very funny." Ryoko commented, "We're going to a new club that opened recently, and came to see if you wanted to come."

"A club?" Kanone asked. He was suprised that this part of the country had even heard of such a thing. The area that they lived in wasn't very well developed, and a little behind in the times. Hell, they'd only gotten cars a year or so ago. A club just seemed a bit too modern for their area.

Kousuke grinned, "Yeah, I was suprised too, but it's better not to question miracles."

Rio looked to Kanone, "So, are you coming? Eyes can come, too, there's no age limit as far as we know."

Kanone looked to Eyes, uncertain, "Are you up for something like that?" He asked, worried what would happen if Eyes had an attack while they were there.

Eyes, however, only nodded, "I'm feeing fine. Actually, I've been feeling pretty good all day."

This short conversation caught the attention of the three visitors, "What's wrong Eyes?" Rio asked, concerned, "Are you sick?"

Eyes nodded a little and looked to Kanone, not sure if they should tell the others or not. Kanone decided that they didn't need to hide anything from them, "Eyes has got a rare type of cancer, called mesothelioma." Kanone recalled. The others gasped, but were too shocked to say anything, so Kanone continued, "He'll be alright, though. We have to take him in for surgery in the morning, and most likely a few other times to make sure they've gotten it all. Other than that, there's not much we can do, but the doctor seemed convinced that was enough."

"How long has this been going on?" Kousuke asked, being the first one to get his voice back.

"A few years, Eyes said." Kanone answered. He looked to said boy, and saw that he had averted his gaze from everyone. Kanone wondered if this was embarassing him, and quickly changed the subject, "We can talk about this later, though, what time does that club open?"

"Around seven." Kousuke replied, checking his watch, "It's a little after five now, so we have time."

"Where's it at?" Kanone asked, figuring it would have been in town. That was near impossible since they had just come from said location, and saw nothing club-like at all.

"It's down by our school." Rio answered, "I think they figured kids would see it on their way to school, and that they would stop by to check it out at night."

Kousuke smirked, "You're just saying that because that's what happened with us."

"Well then maybe that's what they were aiming for, idiot." Rio replied, sticking her tounge out at him.

Kanone chuckled, "So, we've got a couple hours. If you'll all excuse me, I think I need to take a shower before I go." Everyone nodded and Kanone looked to Eyes.

Eyes got the message loud and clear, "I'm going to go lay down until we're ready to go, I'm not feeling all that well."

In anyone else's case, Rio would have suspected the obvious lie, but considering the recent information she had recieved, her face was full of concern, "Are you sure you're up to going? I don't want to be the reason that you get worse."

Eyes smiled slightly, "I'll be fine, I just need to lay down for a little while." Rio nodded, and watched him go up the stairs.

"Poor Eyes." Rio whispered, and glared at the snickering Kousuke, "What's so funny?"

"You're so naive, Rio." Kousuke explained, "It's not a coincidence that they both left at the same time, you know."

"But Eyes is sick, maybe he's really not feeling well." Rio pointed out.

"As much as I hate to do it, I'm going to have to agree with Kosuke." Ryoko said, "Eyes said just a few minutes ago that he had been feeling fine all day."

"Besides, you know Kanone, there shouldn't be any guess as to what those two are donig." Kousuke concluded. Kanone was known among their group to be very...horny. There was no two ways around it, Kanone simply got around.

Rio sighed, defeated. She had really hoped that those two had more self control, but she guessed not, "Wait a mintue." Rio spoke up, "If they're doing that, then Kanone lied to us!"

Kousuke was about to say Kanone would never do such a thing, but realized Rio was right, "Hey, yeah! He said that he was taking a shower, that liar." Ryoko just smirked at the two when they all heard the water being turned on upstairs, "Oh." Was the only response from Kousuke.

(A/N: Sorry, I know this is, obviously, a perfect opportunity to put a lemon in here, but I don't have the time for that right now. But I promise I'll make it up to you, and stick one in here eventually, just not sure when that'll be.)

An hour later, Kanone reappeared downstairs and entered the living room where everyone had relocated. Kousuke smirked as Kanone joined the others, "Where's Eyes?" He asked.

"Laying down, like he said he would be doing." Kanone replied. He smirked to himself, Eyes would need the next hour just to be able to stand up; they had gotten a little rough in the shower. Oddly enough, Kanone heard no complaining from the boy. Kousuke, Rio, Ryoko, and even Callia traded glances, all grinning at each other. Kanone didn't know why he bothered hiding it, it wasn't like they didn't know. Still, he decided to change the subject, and turned to Callia, "So, are you coming with us?"

Callia shook her head, "I'm exhausted from today already, I don't know how you're not."

Kanone laughed a little, "Neither do I, I thought I would be dead asleep by now."

Kousuke was about to ask Kanone for some more information about Eyes' disease, but was cut off when they boy himself entered the living room. Kanone looked at him, suprised that he was able to get up and ready so quickly, "Done with you nap?" Kanone asked, smirking.

Eyes blushed a little, and nodded, "I'm ready whenever you are."

Alright, I have to go now. Hope you all liked it, review!