Thanks for all the reviews and support, I really appreciate them. To Pretense, I understand what you mean; I'm still fixing my grammar. I do not fancy using a Beta due to an unpleasant experience some time back (not on ). I do make minor mistakes here and there so please be patient with me! Thank you!

Chapter 3—What Went Wrong?

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! MI-Mi-MIHARU-KUN! WHAT DID YOU DO THEN?!"

"Nothing."

"What? Seriously?" Gau chuckled as he wiped tears off his face. It was a sunny weekend and he came with Raikou to visit Yoite.

"What was I supposed to do?" Miharu asked in return.

"Smile back?" Raikou replied on behalf.

"…and you'd think that would help?"

All of them burst into another fit of laughter.

"Gosh Raikou, you can be such a klutz sometimes! You set the rules but you forgot about it!" Yukimi interrupted as he walked back to the living room from the kitchen.

"Well it has been at least two months since I saw Miharu and Kyouichi-kun, so… it sort of slipped my mind."

"I guess it can't be helped. Raikou-san you're so busy with class, the council and now the committee. Sigh… I wish I'm in the same school."

"It's not too bad; I can still handle the workload and Kou is a good assistant, he helped me in many ways."

"But he's a little stiff."

All eyes fell upon Miharu. Does he really have the right to say that about Kou?

Yoite got up before anyone could answer. He turned to look at Miharu, "Do you want a cup of lemon tea?"

The boy got up as well and replied, "I'll go."

Yoite was standing still. Miharu walked pass him entered the kitchen. The elder boy wasn't moving an inch. His face was a shade darker.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Gau whispered to Raikou, who merely shrugged.

He walked towards the door.

"Yoite." Miharu called after him. He just came out with the drinks and caught the latter near the door.

Yoite merely replied, "I'm going out for a bit" without turning back.

The door closed with a soft thud.

Miharu felt a stab.

Why? What happened? A minute ago everything was still merry… but now there was nothing left but an awkward silent. What could possibly spark his anger?

Miharu struggled hard to remember whether he said anything wrong. Or perhaps hurt his feelings… yet he couldn't come to any conclusion.

A hand reached out and patted gently on Miharu's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He simply nodded.

Yukimi scratched his head while biting a straw. The biting became more intense and he finally screamed in madness while messing with his hair.

"What the hell's wrong with that IDIOT?!" Yukimi said, referring to Yoite.

Kyouichi and Gau looked at each other with mutual understanding that they too, have no idea what's going on.

"I think we must have made too much noise… He never liked noisy places."

"Yeah Gau, you may be right." Raikou said, still standing beside a quiet Miharu.

"I'm going home." Miharu picked up his bag all of a sudden. "I'll need to help out with the shop. I promised grandma to be back before dinner."

"I'll go with you." Raikou offered.

The rest raised an eyebrow. Gau is uneasy.,, but he dismissed the feeling. Raikou-san was far too kind. Miharu was his junior and friend so he wanted to console the boy who was hurt and sad, nothing more than a platonic friendship. He would have offered the same consolation if it was him all down and upset.

"It's okay." Miharu replied. He seemed non-chalant by what happened. As a matter of fact, his expression did not change and he was unperturbed. "I can manage" was all he said.

Soft breeze blew in from the balcony… Yukimi turned back to his computer and sipped the warm coffee. It was not his shot to call and Miharu was a host as well as a guest. Every time he leaves, the rest will follow suit. Even though he knew the others much earlier than Miharu, the latter seemed to have some magnetic attraction that made others grew fond of him within a short span of time. And because of that, he is the 'center' of the group. The core. Heart. Whatever you wish to call it.

"I'll go with you. There's nothing left to do at home anyway. My parents are out." Kyouichi said. It's a good excuse to hang out together after this. And perhaps the boy needed some company afterwards. He wanted to be a supportive friend.

"Hm…" Miharu mumbled and started towards the door. Raikou grabbed his (water) bottle and trailed behind with a, "see you later" wave to Yukimi. Gau followed behind and Kyouichi thanked the host before bidding him goodbye.

All four got into the lift together.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Ne… Kyouichi-kun, wh-where are your parents?"

"Ah-um, they are in New Zealand. For honeymoon."

"I see… and didn't you go with them?"

"Haha… no haha…" Kyou finished with a nervous laugh.

Miharu showed neither response nor interest. Raikou too. It's as though both were not in the same world as them.

It can't be helped. Miharu was reflecting on what happened moments ago… before the rest came. As usual, Yoite sat on the floor near the balcony. He was staring at the TV with a glass of tea that Miharu made for him. The younger boy however, knew that they were expecting guests and therefore was busy cleaning the house. Not literally cleaning, but he was getting rid of rubbish around and was stacking Yukimi's books and magazine on the shelf. Yukimi still hasn't awakened. Not until the rest arrived.

Kyouichi, Gau and Raikou came together. Raimei would very much like to join them but Koutarou made her stayed back for training. The leader dropped by the city to 'look for something' as it seems. Miharu was more than happy to stay away from him as Koutarou himself was bad news.

"Gau, are you hungry?" Raikou turned around all of a sudden.

"Eh? Um… I'm okay. But… why? Are you hungry, Raikou-san?"

"Yeah, all of a sudden I felt like having okonomiyaki. It's been ages since I last ate them."

Miharu stared at Raikou with a surprised look. His big and round eyes were looking directly into Raikou's. Then he softened and turned away. The samurai can do whatever he wants. There was nothing but Yoite on his mind now.

---------------------------

"Miharu! Table 3 requests for more tea!"

He sighed. Table 3 again, huh? What else do they want?

"Ah Rokujou! Mine is supposed to be cold!" Kyouichi jumped anxiously when Miharu poured hot tea instead. And I mean boiling hot.

"Oh, really?" Miharu asked coldly and left without giving Kyou the chance to reply.

Kyou let out a silent scream in his heart. Why was Miharu so mean?! And he thought the boy's bad mood had eased a little when he started talking to them like usual at the restaurant.

"Miharu-kun doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Maybe we shouldn't be here afterall…" Gau said with much uneasiness. He felt they had been imposing on the smaller boy who looks very much the same as he was an hour ago, but definitely weren't the same on the inside.

Miharu turned to look at the restaurant. It was busy as expected. Out of the 12 tables capacity the place could hold, it's actually operating at 11 tables. But most of the customers were well fed… except for the table near the window - whereby one of the part timer was busy flipping the okonomiyake for a table of customer who seems to be over-excited *OLs.

Miharu peered over Kyouichi's table and sighed a little. He pretty much wanted to be left alone today. At least not accompanied by people he knew. Miharu still couldn't understand why Yoite acted the way he did today. It's not that any of them said anything wrong. They were merely talking and joking as usual – something Yoite had joined and was part of. No, perhaps they did said something that hurt Yoite's pride… or maybe whatever it was – just slipped right through someone's mouth and Yoite took it personally. Yes, that should be the case. Now his task is to find out what was said and which one that the other boy misinterprets the meaning.

With a load off his mind - to which he decided to figure out later after work, Miharu's stiff body relaxed a little.

"Miharu-kun! Please give us another plate of gyoza!" Gau waved from afar. Miharu went over and wrote their order as he threw Kyouichi a dagger-like stare. It must be this idiot who did not watch his mouth. Kyou felt a cold chill and trembled.

Near the window of the restaurant, a shadow started to move away. The boy put his hat back on and left.

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"Thank you for coming." Miharu said to Raikou and Gau. Well, there's no need to thank Kyouichi anyway.

"It's fine, we had fun eating. Would be better if you could actually join us."

"Glad to hear that, Raikou-san." Miharu returned a gentle smile.

The samurai could actually felt his heard skipped a beat. He had always thought Miharu looked cute, but never given him much thought. Well, why would he?

Raikou once again dismissed the notion that Miharu looks cuter every time he sees him. You're right, it's "again".

Gau felt the familiar sensation returned. Maybe it's just a gut feeling, or that he's thinking too much. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he's right somehow… somewhere.

"Do you need us to stay and help with the cleaning?" Raikou broke the silence.

"No, it's okay. But I would appreciate if KYOUICHI-KUN would stay back and help to wipe some of the tables."

Kyou let out another silent and painful scream in his heart. "Uh… sure…" He uttered softly.

"We'll help too." Raikou offered, but was rejected by Miharu saying that Kyou alone would be sufficient.

Gau watched the interaction quietly. No, if given a choice, he'd rather nothing happened today and that he's back home watching TV as usual. All he wanted was to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Then we'll be going…" Raikou said solemnly. "Come on, Gau."

"Hm…" the other boy mumbled and trailed behind.

"Is he okay…?"

"What?" Kyouichi returned the question when the other two were out of sight.

"I mean Gau-kun. He seemed down."

"Really? He was pretty lively during dinner."

"Yeah… I wonder what's wrong…"

"Nothing seems wrong."

"You are really clueless sometimes."

"What?! Me?! Clueless?! Rokujou you are really too much today! One minute you treated me coldly and the next you're nice to me!!! Next thing I know, you're being mean again!"

"Ha-Ha." Miharu coughed and went back to the shop, followed by a distracted and furious Kyou.

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Funny how Miharu couldn't contact Yoite for the next few days. It's as though he…………. disappeared. He doesn't own a phone and Yukimi said every night he only returned after 1 in the morning. Next day when the writer woke up, the boy was nowhere to be seen. That makes it almost impossible for Miharu to catch him.

And yes, the semester exam is near. School festival is coming soon too and he had to rush from one place to another. He couldn't thank Raikou enough for making his life much easier by allocating simpler tasks to him. Strangely enough, he doesn't get to 'see' Raikou either. Whenever he dropped by the Student Council's office to hand some documents, it's always Kou there.

"Rokujou-kun."

Miharu turned.

It was Raikou, holding a book in his hand.

"Senpai." Miharu greeted him with a bow.

"There's no one around, I don't need the formality." Raikou knocked Miharu's head playfully with the book.

Both of them walked together.

"…are you sure this is okay?"

"Eh?"

"Walking with you."

Raikou made a sudden stop. He stared at Miharu and seemed to have realized that he shouldn't be seen close to Miharu. Who knows what his fangirls and fanboys might do?

"Well… I know a good place where we can have some peace."

And that's the Student Council Room.

Miharu flopped himself on the couch. It felt comfortable. Maybe he should take a short nap before the bell rings.

"Kou-san is not in?"

"He is in the library. In fact I just came back from there."

"Oh…" Miharu nodded.

"You don't look too good… is that lunch?" He pointed at the younger boy's packet of milk.

"I'm not really hungry." He let out a soft sigh.

There was an overwhelming silence. Raikou wanted to ask something that had been bugging his mind since few days ago yet he couldn't bring himself to say it

"Is everything alright?"

"I guess you can say it's doing well so far. We have decided on the theme and few of my classmates had volunteered (practically forced to volunteer) to help out with some of the work. We will be making the costum—"

"That's not what I meant."

What else could it possibly mean?

He continued after a short pause. "I'm talking about Yoite."

"… … …"

Raikou's expression became gentler. He leaned forward, facing Miharu.

"Yoite can be pretty hard headed sometimes… in another word, stubborn. If he thinks he's right, he won't give in no matter what."

Miharu had his head hung low.

Raikou was worried. He stepped on a landmine? Perhaps his junior really didn't want to talk about it?

Then he saw Miharu trembled. The trembling grew steadily, causing Raikou to panic. He didn't know what to do… his junior could be crying and it might have hurt him to talk about Yoite after all.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

A laughing Miharu was revealed. He was laughing so hard, he had to clutch his sides. Tears were forming in his eyes.

The samurai was dumbfounded.

Miharu took another look at Raikou and bursts into another fit of laughter… and that left him more puzzled than ever.

"Raikou-san…" The green-eyed boy wiped the tears in his eyes and tried to speak with a straight face.

"Yes?" Raikou replied in a relieved manner. It felt good to see Miharu laugh. Or even smile. Whatever tension he felt just now were all gone. It seemed as though both of them had no barrier in between.

"Sorry bout that…"

"Don't worry about it but I'd very much like to know the reason for your outburst. You see, like the saying goes: sharing is caring." Raikou said with a smile.

"Well… the way you described Yoite was right on spot. He is indeed stubborn and refused to listen sometimes. It's because we were so comfortable together, I accepted all of him unconditionally and his characteristic never crossed my mind – not until you pointed it out to me moments ago."

"But no matter how much we put into words, it is you who understood him best."

"Even so there were times when I have no idea what crossed his mind."

"If you don't mind me asking… what happened the other day? Have you sorted it out with Yoite?"

Miharu shook his head silently.

"I did not get to see him these few days."

"Put others aside. You look unsettled and if you don't fix this problem with him, it'll affect your studies."

"I'm okay."

"Your answer was not convincing enough. As your senior and the president of the student council, I allow you to be excused from today's meeting."

Miharu raised his brows. Raikou had always been kind to him and he didn't know how to thank his senior. Now he's putting more tabs into his debt.

"I—"

DING DONG DING DONG

Miharu looked up. The student council office is nearer to the upperclassman's room. He had to rush back otherwise he won't make it to the next lesson.

"Raikou-san, sorry but I have to get going." Miharu said as he stood up. "What were you saying just now?"

"No, it's nothing important. We'll talk another time." Raikou replied as he followed suit.

"Thank you for your time today. I know you're a busy person… yet you're spending your precious time on me." He said with a solemn and lonely smile.

The samurai's heart skipped another beat.

Before Raikou could say anything further, Miharu bowed and closed the room door with a soft thud.

"Ha… haha… HAHAHAHA!" Raikou laughed. He must have lost his mind. He was about to say something unforgivable.

The samurai flung his body on the couch where Miharu sat moments ago. He curled his body and closed his eyes. He could still feel his junior's warmth on the couch. It felt consoling yet painful. His chest hurts. It aches for no reason. No reason at all.

Why is this happening to him? What is wrong with him?

--------OWARI----------

*OL refers to office lady

Stay tuned for the next chapter!