i"Kaachan! Chase me!" Nanami laughed and yelled to him, her little feet pounding the ground as she practically flew away from him.

Katsuro grinned and raced after her. "You'll never get away from me, Nana!"

"Yes I will, I can run faster! Watch me!" She sped up, pulling away from him unexpectedly. "Catch me Kaachan! Catch me!"

Katsuro raced after her, feeling the warm breeze blowing against him as he ran. It was beautiful out, sunny with blue skies and no clouds – it was a perfect day. He sped up, catching up with his sister. "You better run faster Nana, unless you want me to catch you!"

She giggled and stopped suddenly, pulling in the opposite direction. "Ha ha, I fooled you Kaachan!" She began to run the other way, forcing him to stop and change his own direction.

"That was a good trick, Nana, but you won't fool me again!" He began catching up to her, just behind her now. She shrieked in excitement and tried her trick of stopping suddenly again, but he was ready for her. He grabbed for her and caught her arm and pulled her towards him, his fingers brushing her sides and tickling her. "Caught you!"

She squirmed and laughed and tried to pull away, but he held on to her tightly. "No Kaachan, stop tickling me!"

"Never!" He was on his knees, holding her close to him. They were both laughing, and now she was trying to fight back, hitting his arms and pushing his face away, shrieking in his ear, trying anything she could think of to make him loosen his grip. It wasn't working, though.

"Kaachan!" She wailed, flailing her arms around. "You're so mean!" She laughed as soon as she said it, though, and he knew she was just trying a new tactic.

"That's because I'm not Kaachan!" He yelled in a lowered voice, grabbing her arms and staring her in the face. "I'm a troll and I'm going to eat you, little girl!" He started tickling her again and her shrieks of laughter echoed through the plains of grass, bouncing back at him even though there was nothing for them to bounce off of.

"No mister troll! Please don't eat me! I'm a good girl!" She had returned to hitting his arms again and shrieking into his ear, but he didn't mind. She was having fun, and that was worth getting a bruise or two on his arm.

"No way, you're my dinner!" They continued playing, but soon Katsuro felt the wind pick up. Out of nowhere the gusts were strong, and it blew her hair back from her face. As he watched, he could see her eyes turn from happy to sad, and her smile vanished, replaced by a frown.

"Kaachan! Don't let me go! Don't let them take me away!" She was shrieking again, but this time her voice was panicky and her fingers dug into his arms.

"Nanami! What's happening?" Before his very eyes, his sister's hair kept growing, getting longer and longer until suddenly all he could see was her hair, blowing in the wind before him. "Nanami!" He felt her fingers lose their grip on him and he grabbed for them, holding them tightly. But to his own panic he felt her fingers turning to air, and soon he was only left holding two long fistfuls of black hair, and he watched as the rest of it flew away from him. Suddenly he was on his feet, running after it, and all he could hear were her echoing shrieks of horror, her wailing voice calling his name, and then it was all gone, and all he had was the hair in his hands -/i

"NANAMI!"

He awoke in a cold sweat, his heart racing, blood pounding through his veins. He looked around, blinking rapidly in the darkness, confusion muddling his mind until he realized he was in his room, and that he'd had the same nightmare again. Third night in a row. He looked over at his clock – 02:46. He sat up, crossing his legs and holding his head in his hands. This was useless.

He heard a knock at his door then and jumped slightly, his heart nearly lurching up out of his chest and into his throat. His door opened and from around the edge appeared Seiji, a look of concern on his face. "I'm sorry, I heard you yell..."

They stared at each other for a moment, Katsuro still struggling to calm himself down and Seiji unsure of whether he should come in or not. Finally Katsuro was able to speak.

"Sorry, I just had a nightmare," he leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes but opening them wide again after seeing remnants of his dream behind his lids.

Seiji decided to take the admission as permission to enter the room, because he came in finally and closed the door behind him. He could see in the room from the light outside and made his way over to sit beside his friend. "What were you dreaming about?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he asked anyway.

Katsuro shook his head, cursing himself for admitting that to Seiji. A nightmare. Who had nightmares at fifteen? He hadn't been thinking. "I don't know, I don't remember. Probably just a result of the stress or something." He tried to brush it off, not wanting Seiji to know what was really bothering him.

Seiji was so used to Katsuro always being honest that he knew when the other boy was lying. He was lying now. "Are you sure? You know, if something is bothering you, you can always, well, if you wanted to, you could tell me about it." He felt kind of strange, offering his support to the older boy. Usually Katsuro was the one everyone told their problems to. But he had a feeling that this was something serious.

Katsuro met Seiji's gaze before quickly looking away. He couldn't. How could he possibly expect Seiji to understand? It wasn't his place to worry his friend. Maybe he'd talk to Coach Kirihara about it later. He couldn't bother Seiji with it. "Thanks, Seiji, but I'm okay." He made himself smile and patted his friend's knee.

Seiji wasn't sure if he ought to feel relieved or hurt that Katsuro wouldn't tell him his problem. On one hand, if it was frightening enough to make the other boy wake up screaming, then it had to be bad. But then on the other hand, he'd confided in Katsuro enough over the past two years, so why couldn't Katsuro confide in him for once? "Are you sure?" He didn't want to just let it go.

"I'm sure." Katsuro tried to smile but realized it probably looked fake. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Seiji. Like I said, it's probably just stress. I'll talk to coach about it today, so don't worry. I'll be alright."

Seiji nodded, feeling defeated. "Alright then. But if you change your mind, just let me know. I'm a good listener, I promise!" He tried a smile of his own, though he was still worried.

Katsuro grinned and patted his knee again. "Thanks, Seiji. Now go get back to sleep, I'll be okay." Katsuro watched as Seiji made for the door, looking back at him from the hall with that worried expression on his face. He felt bad about lying to Seiji, but he couldn't bother him. These problems were his, and not his friends'. He'd solve them on his own.

hr

"You going out somewhere?" Shige stood at Tatsuya's bedroom door, a curious look on his face as he watched his friend hold up two different sweaters before his chest and scrutinize his reflection in the mirror. He didn't need to ask – he could already tell what his friend must be doing.

Tatsuya saw him appear in the door and immediately his cheeks reddened in a blush. He threw one sweater down on the floor before pulling the other one over his head. "Uh, I'm meeting up with Kojima."

"Oh really? And what are you guys doing?" Shige knew he could end Tatsuya's torment easily by guessing, but that wouldn't be fun.

"Nothing special, we're uh, just hanging out." Tatsuya wasn't sure why he couldn't tell Shige. He was a horrible liar, especially when it was his best friend he was lying to.

Shige could see right through him. "Oh please! You're going on a date with her, aren't you? Dinner? Movie? Romantic walk by the harbour?" Shige could go on for hours teasing Tatsuya.

The other boy flushed a deeper shade of red and glared at his friend. "It's not a date! We're actually going to watch a soccer game, her cousin plays for the university team and she wanted to see him play and have some company and she just asked me. It's nothing more than that!"

This was even better than he'd imagined – Kojima was going to introduce him to someone in her family! "Wow, you guys are lame. Your first date, and you're going to watch university soccer? I hope you're at least taking her out for dinner after!"

"It's not a date!" He wished it was, though.

"Wait until Yuriko hears about this. She'll be awfully bothered and insulted that you didn't choose to consult her first for her expertise." Shige was definitely going to tell her when she got back.

Tatsuya's face blanked. "Don't tell her, please! I'll do anything!" He knew that was a bad offer to give, but he couldn't take more teasing from his aunt.

Shige grinned and walked into the room. "Are you sure you want to offer that?"

Tatsuya frowned and nodded. "Even though I shouldn't have to, I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep you from blabbing to my aunt about this."

Shige stood beside his friend, a devilish grin on his face. "Alright, I'll accept that offer. I'll keep my mouth shut about this for now. Just remember, though, that when the day comes, you have to do whatever I ask you to. Don't forget that."

Tatsuya glared at his friend and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, but the agreement is off if she finds out."

Shige nodded. "Alright, that's fair. And by the way, you should wear the other sweater, it makes you look like more of a man." He managed to dodge out of the way just in time, as Tatsuya's fist just missed his shoulder. "Maybe if you're lucky you'll get some action, maybe that will get rid of some of your aggressive energy!"

Tatsuya's blush came back when Shige made the comment. "Shut up Shige!"

Shige grinned and laughed as he made his way out of the room. "Oh stop being embarrassed! Kojima would be good for your first time. After all, one of you needs to have a set of balls!" He winked at his friend before skipping away from the door lest Tatsuya throw something at him. He hid in his room with the door cracked open, waiting for his friend to leave. When he finally heard footsteps going down the hall he peaked out of his door and watched as Tatsuya walked down the stairs and headed for the door.

Shige couldn't help but grin – Tatsuya had changed his sweater.

An hour later found Shige sitting on the couch, bored out of his mind. This was the first time since he'd moved in with the Mizuno family that he was in the house alone. Well, not totally alone, since Mariko was in bed. But with Tatsuya out on a date, and Yuriko teaching a class at school, the only one he had for company was Holmes, and he'd already taken the dog on a long walk.

He found himself thinking about Tatsuya, wondering how the evening was going. Watching him and Kojima trying to hook up was almost getting painful for him. If those two didn't kiss tonight, Shige would have to resort to drastic measures. Then again, if they did start dating, Shige figured that he would be spending even more nights like this – by himself. He wasn't exactly looking forward to that.

So he got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, his mind running actively through his options. He needed someone else to hang out with tonight. While he was on friendly terms with the guys on the team, he wasn't exactly on the kind of terms where he felt comfortable calling them up. He'd always been a bit of a loner, which was probably why he got along so well with Tatsuya. Besides, he wasn't sure if he even really liked any of them enough to want to hang out with them outside of school. He found them a little on the boring side.

Suddenly a light went off in his head and he knew exactly who he could call. If Tatsuya was going to abandon him to go on a date, then he could do the exact same thing! He raced back to his room and grabbed his cell phone (his father had actually bought it for him as a present after being selected for the Japanese representative squad) and opened the address book, searching for the number.

He laid down on his bed as he listened to it ring, hoping she wouldn't be busy tonight.

She picked up after three rings. "Maiko speaking!"

He grinned as he heard her answer. "Hey, it's Shige!"

"Shige! What a pleasant surprise," she sounded genuinely happy that he'd called, and he was relieved.

"Yeah, well Tatsuya abandoned me for the night to go on a date with Kojima, so I was looking for some company and thought I'd see what you were up to."

She was silent for a moment before answering. "Really? Well, I do have plans with some of the girls." Another moment of silence filled the conversation and just as he was about to tell her that he'd call her some other time, she spoke up. "But those can be cancelled. You're much more interesting, after all."

A relieved smile broke out on his face – he'd been worried for a brief moment that he'd have to come up with another plan. "Wonderful! I'll be over at your place in about ten minutes then?" She didn't live too far from them, after all.

"Ten minutes sounds great, see you soon." She hung up, and Shige laid on his bed for a moment, feeling smug. He'd really hit it off with Maiko on the weekend, and had actually been thinking about her during the day. Getting to spend more time with her would be fantastic. He got up and grabbed a light jacket from his closet, leaving his room and heading downstairs. He stopped at the door to Mariko's room, looking in and wondering if he ought to tell her he was going out. After all, with him gone, she'd be by herself.

"Shige?" She apparently wasn't asleep.

"Oh, uh sorry! I thought you were sleeping." He smiled sheepishly and stood by the door.

"No, just resting. Are you going out?" She sat up in bed and turned on her lamp, and he could see the beads of sweat on her forehead. Maybe he shouldn't leave her alone.

"Uh yeah! Tatsuya and I both have dates tonight, he already left for his." He hoped she wouldn't mention anything to her sister.

Mariko smiled lovingly and took a sip of water. "I'm so happy to hear that! Is my Taachan out with that girl you told my sister about?"

Shige grinned and nodded. "Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it to her. He's in my debt as long as she doesn't find out."

Mariko laughed and smiled at him. "I'll keep quiet about it then, dear. Who are you going out with?" She asked him with such genuine interest that he couldn't help but smile and launch into a description.

"It's another girl who plays soccer with Kojima, Tatsuya's girlfriend. Her name's Maiko, we really hit it off well this weekend when we went to watch them play in the futsal tournament."

Mariko smiled that knowing mother smile, and took another sip of water. "I'm sure she's a lovely girl, Shige. Have a good time tonight, dear!"

Shige wasn't sure what came over him but suddenly he found himself crossing the room and kneeling by her bedside. "Can I get you anything before I go?" Mariko smiled and told him no, that she was fine. He hesitated for a moment, then gave in to his desires and leaned down to give her a hug.

"Thank you, Mariko, for letting me stay with you guys." He felt a little embarrassed after saying it, not sure what had possessed him to do it. But it didn't matter though, because he did mean it.

Mariko almost looked as though she was about to cry, but managed to keep her composure. "We're all glad to have you, Shige, me especially. I know you're taking good care of my Taachan, I can see how happy he is to have you around."

"Really? I couldn't tell, because he yells at me half the time," Shige joked.

Mariko just kept smiling. "A mother always knows, Shige. Besides, I always wished that I could have given Tatsuya a brother. Now he has one." She took hold of his hand, gently squeezing it. "Thank you for that."

Shige didn't respond, having no idea what you were supposed to say to something like that. Part of him wanted to sit down and tell her how he was grateful to her for being the mother that he had always wanted, for letting him be part of a real family, not the disjointed and dysfunctional one he'd been born into. But instead all he could do was shrug. He had a feeling that she would understand.

"I had no idea they had such a strong team," Tatsuya walked beside his companion, and she grinned.

"No kidding, huh? Sometimes they look good enough to compete in the J League." Yuki was pleased that he had enjoyed the game so much. She'd been a little nervous about inviting him, wondering if he would find it weird. Luckily though she had nerves of steel (at least on the outside) and had been able to ask him without sounding too awkward (though on the inside she'd been sick with nervous anxiety). He'd agreed, though, and now they were walking out of the stadium together.

Tatsuya nodded, and suddenly they found themselves standing in the parking lot. Shige's comments came back to him from earlier. Should he offer to take her out for dinner somewhere? Was she expecting it? "Kojima?"

She looked at him when she heard the hesitation in his voice. "Yeah?" She had been trying to decide if she ought to suggest continuing the night somehow, but wasn't sure if he would want to.

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to, uh, maybe go have something to eat? I'm kind of hungry and I'm sure everyone at my place has already had dinner by now. If you're busy that's fine, just thought I'd ask." He bit his lip – why couldn't he ever suggest something to her and not sound nervous?

Yuki smiled and reached out suddenly, taking hold of his hand. "I'd love to." She knew it was a gamble, but something in her had finally snapped at his offer. He had to be interested in her!

When she grabbed his hand he looked at it in shock for a moment, wondering if this was actually really happening. They were standing together in the rapidly darkening evening, and she was holding his hand and smiling. Did this make it a date? "Great." He stared back at her, looking at her face and wishing that he had the nerves to just lean over and kiss her. He didn't, though.

Yuki gave him one last smile before turning suddenly and tugging on his hand. "So, where do you want to go?" She didn't really care where they went to eat, she just didn't want to stand in the parking lot any longer in case her cousin came out, or she ran into her aunt and uncle.

Tatsuya was jolted out of his thoughts by her tugging on his hand, and he quickly moved to follow her. "Uh, I don't know. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

"Can't really think of a place. Wanna just walk around and see what we find?" She glanced up at him and couldn't help but smile. She was going out for dinner with Tatsuya!

"That sounds good," he responded and glanced back at her, a smile springing to his lips when he noticed how big of a smile she had on. Shige hadn't been kidding – she really did like him a lot. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, and suddenly he didn't think he'd mind listening to Yuriko and Shige harass him if it meant he got to walk around holding Kojima's hand.