The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly. I managed to concentrate during the following lessons and didnt doze off either. If been thinking about fudou most of the time though. I really wanted to check on him but couldn't Just go over to his place either. After all I didn't Even know where exactly fudou lived at.

I collected the worksheets we got that day and decided to send tobitaka a message asking for directions. It worked pretty well, tobitaka has been over at fudous place quite a lot already and the directions he gave me where step-for-step instructions so I was sure nothing could go wrong.

When I entered the train which was supposed to bring me to the district in which fudou lived in I noticed that my heart started beating just a little bit faster. I didn't now if I was nervous because I've never been there before, because I didn't now what to expect, or because I was about to look after someone I wasn't even supposed to show any interest in.

The seats in the train weren't exactly comfortable but I wasn't supposed to be in one for long anyway. There have been many people in it too. Older woman, mothers with their children, men who looked like business men with suits and all. Something that brought attention to my eye was a pair of children standing by the door. They appeared to be siblings, the older one was about 8 years old and held hard onto the hand of the younger one who seemed to be around 4.

They were fighting over whether or not they were allowed to stop at a nearby ice cream shop or not.

A bell chimed.

This was my sign to get off the train. I jumped up, grabbed my bag and rushed out of the door. On my way I almost ran into a man who tried to get on the train, but thankfully I was able to Dodge out of the way before it came to a collision.

I took my phone out of my pocket to check the message I got from tobitaka.

Just like the message said I went off of the train station and followed the right path.

Strictly following the instructions I walked along a narrow street surrounded by small, old looking houses. The area was full of vegetation and while walking I could hear the singing of some birds. It was a very nice district, somehow I didn't expect any of this. Don't Get me wrong I didn't Think he'd live in some kind of slums but, well maybe I did just that.

Just a few more steps and I should be there. I got nervous again. The fresh air made me forget where I was about to go to but now that I'm most there it crawled back into my mind.

The alley I was in almost the same as the street I walked before. A lot vegetation, birds singing, fresh air which smelled a lot like spring. There were a bunch of kids at the street too playing what appeared to be soccer. I couldn't Help it but had to imagine fudou was the one who teached them how to play and couldn't suppress a laugh.

„Yo! Who are you?!" one of the youngsters yelled at me out of the distance.

At first I didn't notice he was talking to me but seeing as there was no one else around and the kids began to walk towards me it had to be me.

„We've ever seen you here before" a little girl continued.

„Well I don't I've here so you couldn't have." I had nothing against kids but was a bit hit by surprise that the kids didn't even hesitate to talk to a stranger like this.

„If you're to living here what are you doing here then?" another boy asked.

„Well…" before I could continue to explain myself the girl interrupted me again.

„I know that uniform" she stated with a bright smile on her face „akio-senpai has the same!"

Senpai? Akio? It was ridiculous how cute that sounded especially out of the girls mouth. And now I also knew I walked the right direction.

„are you a classmate?"

„are you playing soccer too?"

„You are a fan I bet!"

„What is that eye patch for?"

„You're hair is really pretty!"

Questions over questions. There was this feeling of discomfort again. Even if I wanted to answer any of the questions the kids had I wasn't able to. Who knew children could talk so fast.

„Cut it out!" I knew that voice „where are your manners"

„Akio-senpai!" the girl cheered

I turned around to look at him. He still looked horrible but other than that he seemed to be alright.

„Yo kuma. What brought you here?" he didn't seemed impressed and if I wouldn't know better there was a hint of annoyance hidden in that sentence too.

„I… uh" I didn't want to tell him I came over just to check on him. That would be way to embarrassing to admit. But what else could I.. Right!

„ I came over to give you the notes of todays lessons." My hand brushed the bag hanging over my shoulder and resting on my hip.

„I see.." the tone didn't change.

„Akio-senpai!" the girl interrupted once more. „is that your girlfriend?"

It took me a while to realize what she just said. But once I did the only thing I was able to do was stare at the ground. I felt my cheeks burning and knew I was blushing bright red. How embarrassing.

„What no!" fudou snapped back at her. „if anything" he grabbed my wrist „he'd be my boyfriend" and with those last words that shocked me more than the actual question, he dragged me away towards his house.

We didn't even arrived at the open door yet and I regained my ability to speak „I'd never be your boyfriend you know. No matter how bad you wanted that to happen." My cheeks were still hot but I felt like I had to say something about this.

„I never said I wanted you to be" he let go off my wrist and expected me to follow him by myself. „I just wanted to make clear that if you would be, you wouldn't be my ‚girl' -friend" he stood beside the door, waiting for me to enter so he could close it again.

„and I wanted to make clear that it won't happen anyway" I snapped back at him.

I stood in the middle of the hallway. Seeing as I've never been here before I just wasn't sure where to go now. Fudou noticed how lost I was and stepped in front of me to show me the way to the living room.

„Thirsty?" he asked while commanding me to sit down with a simple hand gesture.

„please…" I sat down as I was told. The room wasn't big but tidy. The couch I sat on was soft and very comfortable but seemed to be quite old. There was a bowl with snacks on the small wood table in between the tv and the couch and a half drunk bottle of coke. Guess fudou spend most of his day here doing nothing but eat snacks and watch tv.

I picked on my sleeves not sure how to behave and waited for fudou to return from the kitchen.

Once he entered the room and placed a glass and different bottles of soft drinks and water on the table he sat down next to me.

He leaned back all casually and switched through the different channels.

„you don't Expect me to do the homework you brought me do you?" his eyes still fixed on the screen.

„well… no not really" my eyes traveled down from the tv screen to my hands.

„So why did you came over?" he still didn't Look at me.

I wasn't Sure what to say. I could tell him I was worried about his well being and just searched a excuse to come over but I knew he would make fun of me for it. Not replying would be the easiest thing to do right now.

By this time he turned his head away from the television and was now looking right at me.

„God can't You relax a bit?" he seemed annoyed again.

A short second of eye contact and I leaned back as well. It felt weird and out of place but he was right I guess. There wasn't anything better to do than relaxing. I took another look at him and instinctively checked his bruises. The cut on his forehead seemed alright, I noticed a few more scratches than I noticed last night but they seemed alright too. They didn't Seem to be infected. The only thing that still looked horrible was his eye.

I might have been staring at him a bit too long as he turned his head again and our eyes met. I turned away as fast as I could, the moment felt more than awkward.

„looks good" my voice was a bit shakey and I hoped he wouldn't notice.

„thanks you do too" he didn't turn away. I knew he was kidding but his face stayed serious as if it was made out of stone.

„you know what I mean" I managed to say in a stable tone. „how is the bruise on your side?" not sure if looking at him now was a good idea, I kept my eyes fixed on the screen in front of us.

„Eh" his hand made a wavey gesture and fell back down onto the fabric of the couch. Guess he didn't Want to talk about this. I took a pillow that has been sitting beside me and put it onto my lap.

„do you want to stay over longer?" again not looking at me directly. Was he annoyed that I came over? It really was a stupid idea to just appear in front of his house without asking first.

„if you want to I could give you… you know… more relaxing clothes" I didn't Expect that. I didn't Expect that at all. I thought he was kicking me out and now he wanted to share clothes with me? I mean, yes I've been doing the same yesterday but, it was different still.

„or are you telling me that uniform is comfortable?" there it was, even though I didn't Look at him either I knew he was smiling by the sound of his voice. I tightened the grip around the pillow and pressed it hard against my chest.

„Well it really isn't Comfortable at all" I tried to sound cool but wasn't Sure if it worked or not.

„alright then" with a groan he got up and left the room. I can't Believe he'd Just leave me like that I thought he noticed that I felt lost here?

It took him a while to return and out of boredness i began to switch trough the channles as well. Nothing really cought my attention but it was a way to waste some time. I stopped at some kind of reality show, you know the ones where you know they are actually low-budget actors and the storyline is way too dramatic. I took a Glance through the room and noticed a few pictures standing on a sideboard. Family pictures, curiosity hit me as I haven't met fudous mother yet and I really wanted to know what she looked lIke. I was about to get up when fudou entered the room again.

„There we go" he handed over a pile of clothes. „Up the stairs first room on the left would happen to be mine can get dressed there if you want"

Great. I shouldn't have accepted the offer of changing into something more comfortable. Now I have to look for his room. The instructions seemed easy but you never know until you tried.

I took a look at the pile he brought me while he sat down again.

„not good enough?" his arms resting on his knees and his face turned just enough to be able to see me.

„ah no it's fine.." to save myself from an awkward silence or worse I took a few steps through the door and stopped for a second. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. ‚time to find his room I guess'

Before taking the next step towards the staircase around the corner of the hallway I could hear a quiet „what the hell were you watching while I was gone" and let out a snicker. He wasn't talking to me rather than to himself so I left the scene.

I turned a turn to the right at the end of the corridor and found the staircase. So far so good. The very moment my foot touched the first step the wood let out a creak. ‚Great' even though the voice was only in my head there was a noticeable sigh hidden in that single word. ‚Now he knows how much time I actually spend in the hallway…..'

I kept on going and soon remembered that, I couldn't hear him going upstairs so he probably couldn't hear me as well and relief filled my thoughts.

Despite the fact that only one window let sunlight into the corridor upstairs it appeared rather bright and well lit. I wrapped my hand around the handle of the first door on the left and hoped my worrying about finding the room didn't corrupt my memories of the instructions he gave me and I'd suddenly stand in the middle of someone else's room or something.

The door opened. I stuck my head through it to check if it really was fudous room or not.

Bingo.

I let myself slide through the door opening holding the clothes I received close to my chest.

To my surprise, the room was tidier than I expected. Sure it wasn't actually cleaned up or anything but it could be way worse. For example narukamis room. I was over at his place a few times and whenever I came over his room looked worse than before.

I put the clothes onto his unmade bed and checked my surroundings.

I could make out a guitar, old but despite the age looking rather good, his muddy soccer shoes laid neatly underneath the window and his school uniform was placed, not so neatly, over a chair standing at a dresser.

Curiosity again. This time however I controlled myself. It would be rude to just go through his stuff no matter how curious I was. Besides I already wasted too much time just getting into this room so I really should get changed to not make a total fool of me.

I sat down onto the bed and got rid of the jacket and began to unbutton my shirt. While doing so I wondered if fudou cleaned up just a bit when he got me the clothes. Why else would he command me to stay downstairs and send me up by myself as soon as he came back. Folding the shirt and placing it next to me I scanned the room once more.

„No" I laughed a bit „the room is way too messy to have been cleaned up even a bit"

My hand searched for the shirt fudou gave me and I stretched it out in front of me. If I didn't know better he literally gave me one of the biggest shirts he could find. No way that he really was that taller than me.

I put it on anyway. The loose fit was actually pretty nice. I brushed off my pants and put on the pair of grey sweatpants. Again pretty loose even for sweatpants but also again pretty comfortable to wear. The only thing that was quite annoying was the fact that I stepped on seem all the time due to their length.

I decided to let my uniform back in his room and went downstairs again. This time much quicker and with a bit more confidence. I walked through the living room entrance and almost jumped onto the free space on the couch right next to fudou. Putting off the uniform made me feel way more at ease and… I guess it made me feel way more at home as well. A funny thing to say seeing as it's the first time for me to be here but it was true.

I placed the pillow from earlier on my lap and cuddeled into it again. By the time I didn't notice that fudou had been looking at me since I entered the room.

„Took you pretty long. hope you didn't go through my stuff"

„why should I" he doesn't have to know that I really wanted to. All that counts was that I didn't In the end.

„If I'll Find a long light hair between my underwear tomorrow I'm Going to flip out." He Turned away and tried not to laugh at his own joke.

I lifted the pillow off of my lap and hit him playfully on the arm. „Don't Be stupid" even I had to suppress a laugh. „why would I want to see your underwear." It didn't even come to my mind that I could have. Not that I was interested. I really wasn't.

„Yea sure that's What they all say" by now I wasn't Sure if he tried to be funny or pervert but either way he was being an idiot and needed to be punished for it. That said I took another strike with the pillow this time hitting his chest rather than his arm.

„show some respect to the elder you brat" I commanded in a semi-serious voice. But it only made him laugh again.

The pillow found it's way into my arms again and I pulled my legs onto the couch as well. I may or may not accidentally or on purpose kicked fudous leg while doing so. I got no reaction out of him with it though.

Some minutes passed by in which we did nothing but stare into the television.

„Say, fudou…"

„Hm?" neither of us moved or looked at the other.

„of these clothes actually fit you?"

„The ones I gave you?"

Still no movement on either side.

„Yea… they seem to be a bit wide now don't they?"

„They fit just fine" my eyes moved over and tried to catch a glimpse of him without moving my head.

„They do fit you quite as well don't they?" he continued and our eyes met as he turned towards me.

I paused for a while, not sure what to reply. It was pretty obvious that they did not fit me even the slightest. Frustration crawled up from my chest and fudou turned towards the tv again.

„You grew pretty much the past few months" I wasn't Sure why I said that but it was true. I didn't really notice until now how much taller he really got as I saw him almost everyday.

„It's not that I grew much it's that you didn't grow at all" he laughed again and waited for a reaction.

I decided a kick in his ribs would be the right punishment this time but as soon as I did I remembered the bruise he had. Fudou let himself fall over with a painful groan. It could be that he acted dramatic on purpose but I knew how big and dark the bruise was so it probably really hurt.

„Ah! Sorry I forgot!" I rushed over to his side and felt deeply sorry all of the sudden.

„it's fine…" he pulled, or rather, threw his legs onto the couch next to me and rolled onto his back holding his ribs.

„are you sure?" I hesitated for a bit but placed my hand over his anyway. Not like it would help but it felt like the right thing to do.

„yea I'm sure" he placed the free hand on his forehead and I swear I could see a little smirk appear on his lips. Guess it wasn't that bad after all.

Instinctively I began to carefully fondle his hand with my fingers. To be fair I didn't even notice until he murmured „that's nice" under his breath.

I took my hand off of his as fast as I could and turned my head away. My face heated up a little and I was sure it had a noticeable hint of red on it too. How embarrassing.

„Yo" he lifted himself up „why'd you stop?"

„I'm not gonna pet you like a dog…" I knew my face was still red so I didn't face him while I was talking. In fact I now also turned the rest of my body away from him into the direction of the tv.

„How rude"

What? How was I being rude?

„first you kick me even though you clearly knew I was already hurt" he rambled on „and now you won't even take care of me" and with the last words he let himself fall back onto his back again with a soft thump.

„are you serious you wake me up at midnight just so I could take care of you!" the one who's Being rude now was clearly not me.

„I didn't mean to wake you up you know that. I would have been fine by myself."

"As if..." I let my feet drop off of the couch and onto the floor again. But as soon as I sat straight fudou placed his leg onto my lap.

„What's that supposed to be?" I saw over to him but he looked right at the ceiling and his arms covered his eyes.

„I'm relaxing. Recover from the pain you caused"

The facial expression I made was a mixture of annoyance, disbelief and surrender. I exhaled deeply and leaned back onto a pile of pillows.

„there's no helping it" I whispered to myself, believing fudou wouldn't be able to hear it. But in the corner of my eye I could see a mischievous grin form on his face.

„You may have won this round but the war isn't over yet" I spoke up trying hard to get this grin out of his face again. It didn't work. To be honest I think my speech ensured him even more. Afraid of making my current situation even worse and more embarrassing and harder to explain I decided to not say a word anymore.

We've Been watching some cartoons fudou turned on while I was upstairs for a few minutes in silent. No idea why but eventually I took a short look at fudou. To my surprise he was still laying in the same position he was in earlier. On his back with his arm over his eyes to shield off any light. I can't Believe I was watching these stupid cartoons while he apparently slept. His legs were still laying heavy on top of mine which made me unable to move. The remote wasn't In sight either. There's No helping it.

Unable to do anything other than watching this junk I closed my eyes as well. Getting here was pretty tiring due to the unfamiliar surroundings so relaxing sounded like a good thing to do.