"Thank you. For everything" Kagami was extremely grateful for the good care he'd received.

"Oh, it's nothing, Kagami-san! Please come back and visit us again really soon."

At those words, Kagami found his eyes shifting over to the person busy cleaning up the dishes from "Jyuka-chan's Big Good-bye and Stay Healthy, Kagami-san" breakfast. Tendou didn't look up, but Kagami knew he heard the invitation. Looking back at Jyuka, Kagami grinned and said he'd visit whenever she wanted him to.

After that, he'd picked up the bag containing the clothing Tendou had brought him and walked out the door. He paused at the gate, turning around for one last look at the house. Jyuka was waving from the window but Tendou still hadn't moved from the kitchen, by the looks of it. The guy hadn't even really said much that morning, beyond a muttered "Ohayo" and praise for how good Jyuka was getting at rolling omelets.

But…it's not like Kagami was expecting anything, really. Grinning at Jyuka, he bowed politely at the household and, turning around to walk through the front gate, started back for his house.

"Take care"

Kagami jerked and whirled around. There, standing just outside the front yard, arms crossed and leaning against the brick wall of the gate as if he'd been waiting for a while, was Tendou.

Of course.

If there was only one thing Kagami had gained from his experiences here, it was that Tendou was full of surprises. Just how he had managed to get there before Kagami had, especially since he'd still been in the kitchen, Kagami didn't know.

…Maybe the Tendou family was actually a clan of ninja. That'd certainly explain things.

At least he was getting better at recovering from such occurrences. Smiling, Kagami nodded.

"I will."

And that was how Kagami left; walking steadily back to his own home, not once turning back (half sure he'd see Tendou vanish in a dramatic puff of smoke if he did)

Getting into his apartment, Kagami felt a mixture of good and bad feelings. He'd gotten used to living alone for the past three years. Without Ryou, there'd seemed to be no real reason for visiting their father's house. The man wasn't there most of the time anyway.

Walking into the kitchenette, Kagami prepared himself before yanking the refrigerator door. Only to be met with…a stack of plastic containers he was certain he didn't own. Upon further inspection, he found a note with instructions to stock his fridge better in the future.

Come to think of it. The apartment looked suspiciously clean. There wasn't anything out of place; the door hadn't even look like it had been broken into.

But there didn't seem to be any dust anywhere.

Maybe Tendou was also a bit of a neat freak. A neat freak ninja. That sounded kind of dangerous, actually. Kagami shook his head, wondering where this weird mood suddenly came from.

Opening one of the containers, he was instantly made cheerful by the sight of miso mackerel. Tendou could do his ninja thing whenever he wanted, if this is what Kagami got.

Putting the meal back into the fridge, promising it he'd return that evening to get to know it better, Kagami walked to his couch and sat down. Leaning back in the cushions, he pondered over the things that had passed between him and Tendou over the last few days.

They weren't friends. That's what Tendou had repeated since he'd met him. He'd even had an "Obaachan said" about it. Apparently he and Kagami had different definitions for the word. But...then just what sort of relationship did they have? They were more intimate than mere acquaintances but Tendou would probably never use the word "comrade" to refer to any Rider, even Kagami. Crossing his arms, he leaned forward a bit, thoughtful. The thing with relationships is that one never knew where they stood with another person until they were told. And Tendou was notorious for never saying things outright.

They…had a bond. He wasn't sure of the depth of that bond, its significance, but it was there regardless. He would just have to be satisfied with that.

He was jerked from his musing by the ringing of his cell phone. Rummaging around his bag for his belt, he walked out the door. They both had their own personal reasons for fighting the Worm but, in the end, they were still on the same side. Wasn't that good enough?

Besides…he'd seen a few more sides to the Man Who Walked the Path of Heaven. Perhaps, one day, he'd see all of them. Even if Tendou refused to call him friend, it didn't stop Kagami from viewing him as such.

Eventually…Kagami would probably even force him to reveal exactly how he defined the connection between them.

That is, if he ever got around to questioning Tendou directly. It seemed like it would involve avoiding Tendou's knack for distraction. That alone would probably be more of a challenge than most people confronted when dealing with "friends".

But then, Kagami never had been the type to take challenges lying down. He'd just wait until the right moment, when Tendou was off guard. Kagami snorted as he spotted Gatack Zector flying his way. Like that would ever happen. At any rate…everything could wait.

They both still had work to do, after all.