URGH! This chapter took me forever to do... and theres still more to do! Oh le sigh... still, we can only go forwards!

Saina Tsukino: hee hee XD... you can have a Mokona shaped cookie for reviewing.

Animegrl1047: your assumptions of Doumeki were correct :D I still thought it was interesting about the umbrella :)

Iriomote Yamaneko Nokomis, Angel of Lavender, Lee Totema and anyone else reading but chosen not to comment Thank you very much for reading this far :)

now onwards with the next chapter (It's in two parts since it was really long... oh vey...)

Chapter 8

(Flash Back)

A week after meeting the blue eyed boy, Doumeki couldn't help but think about that kid: Watanuki Kimihiro. The sad look. The touch of his shaking shoulders. Those blue eyes... those images burned into the young boy's mind, not even knowing why he remembered a boy like Watanuki with such great detail.

When Watanuki's parents arrived in their car, they had offered Doumeki a lift home (which he gladly took). He had noticed at this point that the blue eyed boy had stopped crying and tried to tidy himself up as best as he could, although his parents still saw the bruises. Watanuki just simply said that he had fallen over and smiled.

Ever since that night, Doumeki had not seen this boy... that is until he bumped into that very person in the hallway...

"Watch where your going!" the boy rubbed his shoulder, preparing to give the other boy a glaring of a life time. That is, until he had realized who the other boy was.

"It's you."

"Yes. I'm the one you had just bumped into."

"What the... don't state the obvious! I meant about that night dammit!" Watanuki roared loudly, pointing at the taller boy whilst turning red. Doumeki raised an eye brow in response, thinking that the way Watanuki was acting was... well, cute.

"You're blushing" The amber eyed boy poked the smaller boy's soft cheek, replying in a stoic tone. This action only made Watanuki sound even more angry.

"I'm not blushing! I'm-well... It's none of your business!" Watanuki was in the mist of a fluster dance by this point. "Why am I even bothering with you? I'm going to be late to my first lesson. Gah! What a was to start the first day of school."

Doumeki looked up surprised.

"First day? But weren't you here last week?"

"I was just registering and..." Watanuki glanced at his watch, and for a moment it looked as if he would flip backwards.

"I haven't got time for this, I'm late enough already!"

The blue eyed boy rushed down the hall yelling at Doumeki from a distance.

"This isn't over yet! From now on, you're my rival!"

Doumeki stood still for a moment, not paying any attention to the whisperings of the other students nearby.

'If I'm his rival... does that mean I'll get to see him more then?'

And with that thought, Doumeki felt quite happy as he went to his class.

---

Doumeki sat at his desk, thinking about the blue eyed boy. He wondered if he had gotten to his class on time and if not, did he get a detention? If he did then he could wait for him, couldn't he?

Doumeki started to balance his pencil on his finger, thinking even more about this Watanuki kid and less about the square root of whatever the teacher was rambling about.

What did catch Doumeki's attention was the door opening, which interrupted the teacher in mid speech. The boy that Doumeki was thinking about moments ago had taken two steps in to the class room, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry Sensei, I got lost on my way here..." Watanuki trailed off as he made eye contact with Doumeki. For a split second there was three different messages that Watanuki sent to Doumeki, using eye telepathy.

The first look was surprised and seem to say 'Is... is that you?' followed by a look of rage saying 'What the hell are you doing here you bastard!' and finishing with a sulking dark look 'Oh you'll get yours... just wait and see...'

"Ah yes, I was told that a new student would be joining us today... alright. Why don't you introduce yourself."

Watanuki broke away from glaring at Doumeki and stood in front of the class.

"Hello, my name is Watanuki Kimihiro."

"He's so short, he looks like he should still be in elementary school."

Doumeki could hear some of the other students already whispering comments about the blue eyed boy.

"He looks weird."

"He's so pale, think he's some sort of ghost or something?"

Even though the teacher couldn't hear them, Doumeki could see Watanuki looking nervous and uncomfortable. Hearing what the other kids were saying made him want to stand up and tell them all to shut the hell up. But that would be out of character for him... however, now that Doumeki thought about it, if someone tried to hurt Watanuki then Doumeki wanted to be the one to protect him. He didn't know why but something about the boy made him feel...

"Doumeki?" The stoic boy was snapped out of his thoughts by the teacher's call.

"Yes Sensei?"

"Please will you be Watanuki-san's guide for the day?"

Even though Watanuki looked as if he was saying 'No! Anything but that, please!,' Doumeki smirked slightly and nodded.

"Yes Sensei."

As the new boy grudgingly sat down besides Doumeki at an empty desk, Doumeki knew that today would be an interesting day.

---

Doumeki had shown Watanuki to all the class rooms, which Doumeki noticed that for the whole time Watanuki had tried to pick a fight with the taller boy several times for such small and silly reasons. Even though Doumeki did like spending time with the blue eyed boy, he didn't want to just be a rival to Watanuki... just something a little more.

When they were heading towards the cafeteria for lunch, Doumeki stopped in his tracks. Watanuki turned around to see that his guide had chosen to stand still and stare at him with those amber eyes. This for reasons unknown to Doumeki made the new boy blush, who now looked nervous at the taller boys action.

"What? Why are you just standing there?"

"Why do we have to be rivals?"

The question seem to take the spectacled boy by surprise.

"Why? Cause.. Because you started it!"

"Started what?"

Doumeki could not see any logical reason for the two of them to be rivals. Except for the memory of poking Watanuki in the face.

'I wonder if that is it...'

Watanuki was about to give up waiting and just keep walking, until Doumeki called out to him.

"Oi. Is it because I poked you in the face?"

There was about five seconds of Watanuki looking completely blank from confusion, before he started to have another angry-fit dance.

"What the hell...? My name is not Oi!!"

"If I promise not to poke you in the face ever again, could we be friends?"

"Huh?" Watanuki stopped in mid rant, looking bewildered at what Doumeki had just said.

"I said if I promised to never poke your face again, could we be friends?"

Watanuki saw that instead of a stoic face, there a was a flicker of hope in those amber eyes as the taller boy continued to talk.

"I would rather be your friend than your rival..."

There was silence between the two in the now empty corridor. Watanuki stared at the other boy for awhile, before looking away to the floor. When Doumeki was about to wonder that if all that he had said was in vain, he heard footsteps coming towards him. Then a pair of cool hands gently took hold of Doumeki's own hand. They looked again into each others eyes, secretly admiring the colours caught in their gaze.

"Okay." Watanuki whispered, no longer looking angry at Doumeki. Instead he looked sincere, softly squeezing the hand in his grasp. "We can be.. Friends."

They could have been like that for a long time, if it wasn't for Watanuki realizing exactly what he was doing. In response the blue eyed boy quickly let go of Doumeki's hand, turning away to hide his now tomato red blush from the other boy.

"But.. But we're still rivals!"

Doumeki didn't know what to say right away. All he knew was that he felt happy. He was happy at the thought of being Watanuki's friend instead of being 'just' a rival. A true simple but happy smile formed on the normally expressionless face.

"Okay."

Watanuki tried to glance from the corner of his eye, only to end up once again staring at the other boy with a strange leaping feeling in his heart.

It was actually quite a pleasant sight for Watanuki.

---

Instead of going to the cafeteria, the boys took their bento boxes to the roof of the school and chose to eat there. The clouds look slightly grey, but the temperature was mild with a cool breeze brushing over the two boys.

"It's kind of nice up here." Watanuki commented whilst Doumeki continued to eat his own lunch, only grunting in reply. Watanuki pouted annoyed, trying not to throw another shrieking fit at the amber eyed boy. However, when Doumeki quickly took a piece of food from Watanuki's lunch with his chop sticks, the spectacled boy reacted like a mad static cat.

"Hey! Don't steal other people's lunch, stupid Doumeki!"

Doumeki munched the morsel, whilst Watanuki continued to rant.

"Oi."

"And my name isn't Oi!"

"This tastes good. Did your Mom make it?"

Watanuki's look of annoyance had left his face to be replaced by another adorable blush.

"Actually, I made it. But my Dad helped... he's teaching me how to cook."

"Really?"

Watanuki glared at Doumeki, not sure if he should take Doumeki's answer as an insult or not.

"Yes and if you're thinking that makes me girly - you're wrong!"

"I wasn't thinking anything like that." Watanuki stopped his glaring as Doumeki looked down at his own bento. "I was thinking that I would like to eat something cooked by you someday."

Watanuki did not know how to reply to this comment. He didn't know why those word made him feel funny on the inside or why his face felt warmer.

"Maybe something like Inari Sushi..."

But he did know what to say to the expressionless boy.

"I don't take orders!!!"

---

"Dammit all, why is it raining again?!"

Watanuki sighed standing by the exit of the building, watching the rain fall. Once again he didn't have an umbrella, since he had forgotten to bring the new one his parents bought for him. School had finished and nearly everybody had already left to go home. He was in a good mood after lunch (he said to himself that he would never in a million years, admit that it was because of Doumeki), but because he was now settling into his new class and getting along with everyone in general. Although for the rest of the day he had stayed close to Doumeki for each subject.

'Only because it's my first day of school...' once again he looked up and sighed. Why couldn't the rain just stop for a little while?

"Oi. Were you waiting for me?"

Watanuki quickly turned to see Doumeki staring at Watanuki with his usual stoic expression.

"Why you... of course not! It's because it's raining and..."

"You didn't bring an umbrella?"

"Well obviously!" Watanuki turned away, crossing his arms to sulk. He was thinking that now Doumeki would leave with a smug look, whilst Watanuki would be left stranded at school.

'Yeah, that would be something he would do-'

Watanuki was dragged out of his thoughts as he felt the taller boy take hold of the smaller boy's arm, pulling Watanuki out of the door and then opening his umbrella.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm going to walk you home."

"But...why?"

"Because I want to."

Watanuki's eyes widen slightly surprised at this answer, before he looked away mumbling.

"I'm not a girl you know."

"I know that. You're my friend, right?"

Watanuki felt himself smiling. "Thank you."

"It's no problem, I just don't want an idiot to catch a cold."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Idiot..."

Watanuki didn't yell, but instead he felt Doumeki reach out for his hand. The spectacled boy thought about shaking his hand away from the other hand, then preparing to give Doumeki a rant of a lifetime. Instead he squeezed the hand softly as they made their way out of the gates.

That was when the rain had stopped.

"Dammit all!!"

And that was when Watanuki saw Doumeki smile and laugh happily.

It had defiantly been a good day for Watanuki.