First of all, thank you so much for all the attention this little story has been getting and also thank you so much for the lovely reviews and ideas.

Fireblaze1807: As per request, the rival will make his appearance :-)

yuumon, my Spanish speaking reader: Thank you, thank you for your reviews and ideas. My Spanish is practically non-existent but Google translate did the job for me and yes, there will be competition for poor Hotsuma but there will also be some help :-)

Lizz1792: I hear ya, sister :-) Maybe the rating will go up at some point. For now, it's T but I enjoy them both too much so a little lemon might be in there somewhere ;-)

I hope the chapter isn't too angsty. There will a reward for Hotsuma, I just can't help myself and let him suffer a little bit first. On with the story!

Hotsuma was still holding his partner's hand in a vice like grip when they arrived in the hall downstairs. He could already hear the other zweilts chat inside of the dining room even through the heavy wooden doors. Touko-chan was gushing over something cute but he couldn't quite understand what is was.

But as if it mattered, Hotsuma thought to himself. Jeez, this girl would always find something to gossip about.

Almost growling, he gripped his partner's hand even tighter.

"You are too rough, Hotsuma." Shusei complained from behind him without raising his voice.

"Oh stop whining, Shusei." He snorted. "You would still be up in your room if it wasn't for me dragging you here."

"I am not hungry and you should stop making such a fuss about it." His darker haired friend said quietly, yet still following along nonetheless.

Hotsuma turned on his heel and all but stuck his finger in Shusei's face. This was getting ridiculous and he was losing his temper - again. They almost bumped their noses because their faces were so close to each other.

"You. Will. Eat." Hotsuma spelled out each word very clearly, getting louder with every letter. "Got it?"

"You don't have to yell at me like this. I'm not deaf." Shusei almost pouted but then again, he never did. If at all, his voice had a slightly chiding tone to it. Hotsuma suddenly realized that there were only a couple of inches between them and drew back, heart galloping in his chest.

He felt the familiar heat creep into his face that seemed to be a frequent side effect of Shusei being near him and huffed.

"I'm hungry. So enough with the talk. Let's just get in and eat." He turned around to open the doors, hiding the embarrassing redness in his face from his friend. It was hard for him to calm down with his feelings so close to the surface.

Shusei was thin. Not that he always had been but Hotsuma hadn't been able to stop worrying since Ashley. He had to admit that his brunette friend had been joining the meals on a more frequent occasion but the amount he would eat was close to nothing. All he would do was take a bit or two, nibble on the bread and then lean back in his chair, listen to the chatter absentmindedly.

Hotsuma knew that he was probably only making it worse by putting so much attention toward the matter but he couldn't help it. The fear of loosing Shusei again was like a constant knot in his stomach, compelling him to watch every bite (or non bite) his partner took with hawk eyes. The fact that Shusei hadn't been eating, at least not enough in Hotsuma's opinion, made the knot grow into an icy coil that weighed him down, paralyzing his thoughts and trapping them into an ongoing spiral of fear. The helplessness he felt in the face of such emotions made him want to slam his fist into the wall.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie.

"Hotsuma?"

He jerked his head around and was about to say something on the rude side of the scale but the concerned look on Shusei's face shut him up.

"I'm fine, Shusei." It still came out with more fervor than he had intended to so he added, more softly, this time: "Just let's eat, ok?"

When they entered the dining room everybody else was already sitting in their designated spots, except for Luka who was leaning casually against the wall behind Yuki's chair, his arms crossed in front of him, looking somewhat gloomily over the happy crowd around the table. Ah, no change there.

Yuki looked up to see who entered and a smile lightened up his face. The idiot always smiled. But for some reason, Hotsuma couldn't help but respond, that left corner of his mouth going up in a crooked smile.

"Hotsuma-kun! Shusei-kun!" The strawberry head exclaimed, jumping up at the same time to run into the kitchen and get the food he had prepared without a doubt.

The others seemed to be engaged in small talk, the atmosphere relaxed and free of any dark clouds. Since they had defeated Reiga (for now, at least) the dinners became a jovial affair more frequently. Even Hotsuma with his at times overbearing temper could enjoy these meals together. He was actually willing to tolerate Sairi's presence and his never ending womanizing - but only so often.

They were taking their seats when Yuki came back, a plate piled up with delicious goodness in each hand. He put the plates carefully in front of them, babbling something about ingredients and freshness but Hotsuma had shut him out already. Who cared about the name of the dish? It smelled good so if the taste was anywhere the same it would be awesome.

"Thanks, Yuki." He mumbled, mouth already full. He cast a glance to Shusei next to him who was eying the mass on his plate for another couple of seconds before he picked up his fork and took the first bite. Next to him, Yuki was bouncing with glee and Hotsuma could tell that the others were holding their breath seeing Shusei eat.

"Geez, leave Shusei alone." Hotsuma couldn't take it any longer. "He's eating, alright? Give him some space or we will have dinner in our room." He growled protectively, waving that fork in front of Yuki's face. On the other side of the table, Luka pushed himself off the wall, taking a step toward them.

Hotsuma rolled his eyes but held back the snarky comment about putting the dog back on the leash when he felt Shusei's hand on his arm.

"I am fine." His face turned slightly up to Yuki's. "Thank you, Yuki-kun. It's delicious."

Touko squealed in delight and Hotsuma rolled his eyes. Inwardly, however, he was pleased that he had insisted and made Shusei come down to dinner with him.

"Shusei-kun", Touko said sweetly, catching the brunette's attention. "Say, who was the girl I saw you leaving with after school today? Is she in your class? You two looked so sweet together!" She squeaked in delight, her hands clapping and her face was that of kid that just had gotten the toy of her dreams.

The words stabbed Hotsuma in his chest like daggers and he all but choked on his rice ball. He coughed loudly, trying to regain his composure while the rest of the crowd stared from Touko to Shusei and back.

When he had gotten himself under control the room went completely silent. All eyes were on Shusei, waiting for him to say something.

"Ah, Shusei, finally catching up, aren't you." Leave it to Sairi to make a comment like that.

Next to Shusei, Hotsuma's mind was trying to process what he had just heard. A girl? What girl? There wasn't any girl! Sure, these female leeches had been trying to get near Shusei all this time, fighting among each other to catch his friend's attention with their stupid mini skirts and giggles. But he made always an extra effort to scatter them by looking scary or simply pulling Shusei away from them. And besides, Shusei wasn't interested in girls… was he?

Unmasked fear hit him suddenly like a wave of cold water, almost knocking him off the chair he was sitting on. What if there was a girl? His stomach plummeted to the floor and the sensation made him nauseous. The fork he had been holding a second ago slid loudly on the plate, sending tiny specks of food around. His thoughts circled around the one question that kept spiraling in his head, faster and faster until it made him tremble with dizziness.

What if there was a girl? What if there was someone that was special to Shusei in a way he wanted to be special to him?

The thought was almost too much to bear. It felt overwhelming and suffocating, making him gasp for air.

Even in with all his emotions going into overload, the still functional part of his brain noticed how Tsukumo padded his sister's arm gently. Hotsuma could feel the silver haired's gaze rest upon him.

"Now, Touko, don't pressure Shusei-kun." He chided her gently. "I am sure she is just a friend and he only gave her a ride home since she lives close to the police station." The words were spoken loudly and slowly so even Hotsuma, in his current state, could pick up on the message.

Hotsuma barely registered though. Touko's question had rattled his core, threatening to crumble the fundamental pillars of his very existence - a life with Shusei at his side. And he didn't mean it in a friend's way. Deep down, despite all his lacking of words and sometimes flippantly appearing compassion toward Shusei, he had never doubted with one heartbeat that they wouldn't spend their lives together as lovers because that's what they meant to be, they always had been. In all the lives he had lived so far there had never been anybody else than Shusei for him. And he had always assumed that there hadn't been another lover for Shusei either.

What if he had been wrong?

The world around came crashing down on him, panic was seeping through and he jumped up so abruptly that his chair went flying behind him. His hands slammed down on the table with a loud smack, his upper body leaning dangerously toward Touko. In his fear plagued state he took the only route that deemed logical to him - attack.

He could see the shock in her eyes when it dawned on her that she probably had better said nothing. But it was too late, he had passed the point of no return already.

"You!" He bellowed and she cringed in her seat, trying to hide her face behind her brother's back. "Why can't you just keep your stupid mouth shut?"

"Tsukumo!" She whined. Her brother put his arm around her, pulling her close, and looked at Hotsuma, indignantly.

"Leave her alone, Hotsuma."

He gritted his teeth. Dear God, he needed to set something on fire or at least drive his fist into something hard until his knuckles became bloody. Anything if only it would make this burning rage inside his body go away.

Growling, he slammed his fist on the table with such force that the tremor that rippled through the wood sent Tachibana's precious china flying for a second. Then, he turned on his heel and stormed out but not without the door slamming behind him that rattled the house in its foundation.

Once outside, he simply kept running until his breath became ragged and the air in his lungs started to burn. The blind rage was still waging war inside him so he drove his fist into the first object that crossed his way with all the force he was able to muster. The young tree trembled, its bark cracked and a jolt of hot pain shot up his right arm, silencing the other emotion.

"Ah!" He cried out loudly and sank to his knees while holding his hand cradled in front of his chest.

He was such an idiot. How could he ever look Shusei in the eye again after what had happened tonight? Not so much because he had behaved so stupidly - no, that he did all the time and Shusei was more than used to his outburst - but more because of the fact that there supposedly was a girl that had caught his partner's interest. How was he supposed to compete with a girl?

He knew almost nothing about girls. He had never been interested in girls, they were annoying at best and if there was any case in point for his theory it was Touko.

"Stupid bitch." He muttered to himself and got up to his feet. Yeah, take that, Tsukumo, he thought to himself, pretty sure that the silver haired zweilt was listening in on him just to ensure that he didn't set the entire woods on fire.

"Trouble in paradise, huh?" Sairi's voice came from behind, making Hotsuma spin on his heel, a scowl on his face.

"What do you want?" He snapped. Out of all people, they had to send Sairi after him.

Said zweilt seemed to sense his thoughts and shrugged.

"Yeah, what can I say. I have a soft spot for losers." He stood a few feet away from him, far enough away to not invade his personal space, hands casually in his pocket, looking as if he was just taking a stroll and not checking in on a mad zweilt with fire powers. Hotsuma loathed him for this and the good looks of his, not trying very hard to hide these emotions to show on his face.

"Sorry to disappoint you, pretty boy. Go and look some place else."

That drew a laugh out of the other.

"Why so hostile, fire bug?" Sairi took one hand out of his pockets and put a finger on his chin. "Maybe I can help you?"

Hotsuma scoffed.

"When hell freezes over." This conversation was over. He strode past the blonde haired young man. He could as well go back to the mansion and deal with the aftermath which was still far better than having an idle chat with this idiot. Despite he overwhelming urge to wipe that smug smirk off Sairi's face, Hotsuma held himself back. It would be hard enough to apologize to Touko - and he was pretty sure that Shusei would make him - but he would rather cut off his hand than do the same to this pompous pansy.

"Remember my words." Sairi called after him, still laughing.

Hotsuma didn't turn back. The faster he got away from him the less likelier it got that he would do something that he regretted later. He took a slight detour to give his frayed mind time to cool off and collect himself.

When he entered the mansion, Tachibana-san was already waiting for him.

"We need to talk, Hotsuma-kun." Tachibana-san's expression was serious and Hotsuma knew that there was no way to talk himself out of it.

Sighing, he followed the master of the mansion into the library. This day just kept getting better and better.

Thank you for reading! Please drop me a note if you feel like it. What do you think? Can Tachibana-san offer some advise?