Hey guys, thanks for your patience with me! Writing's been low on my to-do list recently.

Anyway, this one's leaning more into the daily lives of our main characters. But expect to see some ahk-shun in the next chapter! R&R please.

Chapter 8 - Problems?

"You look awfully happy", said Natsuru. "Something good happen?"

"Yep!", said Natsume. "I'm in an official relationship with this really cute guy", she said as she cradled her chin with her hand, closing her eyes and blushing.

"Oh yeah? He must be a really lucky guy."

"Not as lucky as I am", she said, slipping her hand into Natsuru's.

The two were walking side by side on their way to school, acting all lovey dovey. They had returned from their overnight trip to the beach resort in relatively high spirits. Natsuru was just glad that he got to get away from it all for a short while.

"By the way", said Natsume turning to Natsuru. "Did you ever reply to that guy?"

"Shousuke? Yeah."

"…And?"

"Uhh he said he'll be in the area sometime soon. So he'll let me know when he is", said Natsuru.

"Mmm, so I take it that you agreed to his offer?"

"Yeah, should I have not?"

"Well no", she said bluntly. "I think it's a good idea to stick together though. Did he tell you anything else?"

"Just what I needed to know for now, he said he'll answer my questions at a later time or something. But for one thing, there are definitely other Black Kampfers out there, and he plans to bring us all together."

"Sooo what's our part in all of this?", she asked.

"Not sure, I guess he just wants us to remain on standby as he searches for others."

"Fine by me!", said Natsume with a large grin. Natsuru smiled back at her. He thought back to their meeting with Shousuke at the beach and their short conversation on the phone. Shousuke's warning reverberated in his head, 'They'll just keep coming at you, the Whites.' Natsuru sighed, he was already used to all the fighting and has even gotten more confident in his abilities, now that he's a Black Kampfer. But he was on edge because anyone in the school could be a possible enemy, not including Kaede and her gang. This took him back to the day he found out about the Reds and Blues, how alert he was when he realized that the enemy could be someone as close as his best friend. He scoffed to himself.

"Good Morning", a voice said from behind. They turned to look, it was Shizuku. "I see you two are as close as ever."

Embarrassed, they quickly released each other's hands and hid them behind their backs, making an awkward smile. "Good Morning Madam President!", they said in unison.

Shizuku scowled, "I'm somewhat offended that you keep addressing me by that title."

"Ah, Shizuku-chan", corrected Natsume.

"That's better. I would ask to join you two on your walk but it seems that I'll just be a bother", said Shizuku keeping a straight face.

"Actually, Mada-I mean uhh, Shizuku…chan", said Natsuru awkwardly. "There's actually something we think you should know, about the Kampfers."

"Save it for later", she said coldly. "I've got a lot of work to take care of. If you'll excuse me." She walked past the two, giving Natsume a smile and totally ignoring Natsuru.

Natsuru looked at her as she walked off, scratching his head, he turned to Natsume. "Did I do something wrong?", he asked.

She closed her eyes, shook her head, and sighed. "Come on, let's go", she said already walking ahead.

'…Women are complicated creatures', he thought.

"I heard that!"

The school was coming into view, it's large blue windows that shine in the light made it look all the more prestigious. The blue and white checkers of the girls' side and the bland concrete of the boys' side, it really was two different worlds. The two were walking among all the other students who were calmly going to class. But something caught Natsuru's eye, a girl with light orange hair with a cyan bow that kept her hair in a ponytail. She was walking to the girls' side, and as she turned around, Natsuru's eyes widened. 'Sakura-san', he thought.

She took notice and waved at them, then walked towards them. Natsume tensed up, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists as if she couldn't hold back on throwing a punch. "Not here", said Natsuru, still keeping his eyes on Sakura as she approached. Natsume calmed herself down, he was right after all. It certainly wouldn't end well if she started a fight here, let alone a normal fight, Natsume was close to throwing some magic her way. Which is understandable, seeing someone you hate appear to act as if nothing had ever happened, and that you have no choice but to be fake in their midst. That would probably piss a lot of people off.

"Good morning, Natsuru-san!", said Sakura.

"Good morning", they said in unison. A good amount of people still know Natsume as Natsuru.

"Hmph, just so you know, I will never let you have her!", said Sakura pointing at Natsuru. Natsuru chuckled nervously as he looked to Natsume.

"Oh Natsuru-san, how I've missed you!", said Sakura giving Natsume a bear hug.

"Th-Thanks", said Natsume.

"Well then, let's head to class shall we?", said Sakura grabbing Natsume's hand. She quickly retracted it from her grasp, leaving Sakura standing there, a bit bewildered.

"Natsuru-san?"

"Umm, this may be strange…but", said Natsume. Then, she thought of a great idea, so great that she just couldn't hide her smile. 'Let's have some fun, shall we Kaede?', she thought. "I actually transferred over to the boys' side now", said Natsume.

"What!", exclaimed Kaede, her jaw practically dropped. "How could this happen! We need to go get this sorted out right away!"

"Well, it was my choice", explained Natsume.

"W-What? How could you enjoy being surrounded by a bunch of smelly, sweaty, perverted guys?"

Natsume chuckled, "While it's true that the smell is unpleasant, I am able to endure such things because I get to be with the love of my life. Despite all the guys fondling over me, I have my eyes set only on him!", she said with much dramatic action.

"…Don't tell me"

"You already know!", said Natsume. She hugged Natsuru's arm and pressed her chest up against him, making him blush.

'Oi! What are you planning?', thought Natsuru. Natsume just smiled back.

"B-But how could you ever like this…guy!", asked Kaede.

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be?", asked Natsume. "Besides, he's already shown me what it is to be a woman. Right, darling?", she said twirling her finger on his chest. At this point, Natsume was trying her hardest not to burst out in laughter, but on the other hand, Natsuru was left standing there, his face as red as a tomato. "We should get to class now, darling", said Natsume, dragging Natsuru with her leaving Kaede's ghost outline wallowing in the wind.

Natsume bursted into laughter as she took her seat behind Natsuru. "Did you see the look on her face?", asked Natsume in mid-laugh.

"What was that whole darling stuff back there?", he asked embarrassingly.

"I was just messing around with her", she replied. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Don't you think you might've taken it a bit too far?"

"She tried to kill you", said Natsume with a -_- look.

"Well yeah…and now she'll probably want me dead even more!"

"Don't worry! I'll protect you!", said Natsume, patting his shoulder.

Natsuru sighed, dropping his head onto Natsume's desk as he sat to the side of his chair. She ran her hand through his head, stroking his hair and humming cheerfully.

"You know that things aren't going to be easy for us, right?", asked Natsuru.

"Yeah, I know. But we'll get through it somehow, right?", she said with a grin.

"Oi, Senou!"

"What's up, Higashida?", said Natsuru lifting his head.

"Good morning, Higashida", said Natsume.

"Good morning Senou-san!", he said with delight.

"You can call me Natsume", she chuckled.

Higashida gasped and went on his knees, "It would be my honor!", he yelled.

"So, what's up?", asked Natsuru.

Higashida stood back up, "Just came here to ask about when we can have our photo shoot!"

"Photo shoot? Oh yeah, I remember now. Uhh I don't know, after school I guess?", said Natsuru.

"Alright! Sounds good. Oh yeah, Natsuru, be careful", said Higashida pointing towards the door to the hallway, filled with envious guys looking in.

Natsuru groaned, "Yeah…thanks."

The school day was nearing its end, with their last period being some good old physical education. Everyone was suiting up in their P.E. attire, Natsuru and Higashida were sitting down on a bench right outside the locker room. Which was located inside the large gym. "Say Natsuru, how did you even meet someone like her?" asked Higashida.

"Who? Natsume?"

"Of course! Who else would I be talking about?"

"Oh, uhh….." Natsuru's mind went blank. He never actually thought of being asked about how they met, and he sure as hell couldn't tell him how they really met. Not that Higashida would believe him anyway. "It was…pretty embarrassing, I'd rather not talk about it", said Natsuru with a nervous chuckle.

"Fair enough", said Higashida. "But hey, you should hook me up with one of her friends! They're pretty cute, right?"

"Maybe."

"Sorry for making you wait", said Natsume. She walked up to the bench and stood in front of where they were sitting. She was wearing a pair of black spandex with a girl's P.E. shirt. The two couldn't help but stare. "You know, you shouldn't stare so obviously at a girl", Natsume laughed.

"Well if you're wearing that…", said Natsuru.

"I had no choice! These damn things are so big I could barely fit into the shirt!", said Natsume as she tried pushing her chest down.

"Oi oi! Stop doing that!", said Natsuru, grabbing her arms.

"No! No! Keep going, it'll work if you do it long enough", said Higashida with a lewd smile.

"Really?"

"No! Wait, don't listen to him!"

"Alright! Everyone listen up and gather around!", yelled the coach. "We'll be doing some fitness tests today, so be prepared. I also know that we have a special student here with us today, but that's no reason to be slacking off! Now, listen for you names, I'll be calling people in pairs to work together."

The coach read through the names, pairing everyone up. "Senou, Natsuru with Higashida, Mikihito."

"Excuse me, but which Senou, Natsuru?", asked Natsuru.

"The male one, you"

"Aw great!", groaned Higashida.

"Next up, female Senou, Natsuru with Aizawa, Yamato."

Natsume looked to Natsuru, "That's too bad. I thought we'd get paired up for sure!", said Natsume.

"Yeah, I guess it can't be helped", said Natsuru.

Natsume felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned around to face a guy, about the same height as Natsuru. "Hi, I'm Aizawa, Yamato, pleased to meet you", he said. He had short black hair that was spiked up with eyes of a brownish-hazel color.

Natsume turned her body to face him, "Ah, nice to meet you Aizawa-kun. I'm Senou, Natsuru"

"Of course! The only girl in all of the boys' side. You're more popular than you think!", he said with poise.

"I'm flattered, but I'm really not as you say", said Natsume.

Aizawa chuckled, "Either way, I look forward to working with you."

"You two", said the coach gesturing at Natsume and Aizawa to come to him.

Natsume walked away waving at Natsuru with a smile on her face. Next to her walked Aizawa. "Hey, are you going to let that go?", asked Higashida.

Natsuru paused for a moment, still keeping his eye on Natsume. "It's fine. I trust her", he said.

"Is it fine if I call you Natsuru-san?", asked Aizawa.

"Sure, but you can call me Natsume too if you'd like. Having the same name as someone else is confusing at times", she answered.

"Natsume-san, that's a nice name, then you can call me Yamato. By the way, are you and that other Natsuru related?"

"No no not at all!", she said shaking her head. "He's my boyfriend, actually", she said timidly.

Yamato laughed to himself, "So then the rumors were true, huh."

"I guess so", she said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Anyways, we should probably get going", said Yamato.

"Get going? Where are we going?", she asked.

"The coach asked us to put away the hurdles out on the track field so we can run."

"Ah, I see."

The class emptied out of the gym and onto the track field. The field circled around a large rectangular grassy area, which was probably used for soccer or other track and field events. On both sides of the straightaway were bleachers that stretched out the length of the track. There were sets of hurdles that were spread out all across the lanes.

"Let's get started, shall we?", said Yamato.

The rest of the class was stretching or doing their own while Natsume and two other pairs of guys were putting away the hurdles.

"So Natsume-san, what made you want to transfer over to the boys' side?"

"Well…", she paused for a moment. "I guess I just wanted to try something different."

"Is that so?", chuckled Yamato. "I don't even know how you managed to do that. I'm surprised you haven't gone back yet, I don't think I could stand being the only girl around a bunch of guys."

"I manage somehow", said Natsume while laughing.

Natsuru was stretching out his legs, bending over and stretching out his palms towards the floor. He stood back up and outstretched his arms towards the sky, bringing them back down to his side and twisting his torso left and right. He looked out onto the track field to the people putting the hurdles away and found Natsume on the far end of the field. She was walking with Yamato while carrying four hurdles on both arms, Yamato was only carrying one on each.

He chuckled to himself, and noticed that she too was chuckling, or rather laughing. She seemed to be hitting it off quite well, he was worried that she wouldn't fit in. Of course that was not the case, being the only girl at a practically all male school doesn't hurt your situation either. Natsuru was glad, but he also felt a bit…alone. Jealous even. 'What am I thinking?', he thought. 'I can't expect her to be only with me all the time.' He shook the thought out of his head, feeling a bit ashamed of himself for having felt this way.

A week has gone by and things have been pretty quiet for the most part, aside from Mikoto hell-raising in the morning. There's been no sighting of Kaede or the four other Whites on the girls' side. For the first time in a long time, he was stressed out. Stressed out from the waiting, school, and surprisingly enough, Natsume. There was just something in his head that he couldn't get out, Aizawa, Yamato. Natsuru was in his room, trying to concentrate on some homework when his cell-phone rang loudly, breaking the silence in the room. He jumped to his feet and quickly picked it up to look at the caller ID.

"Prez?", he answered quickly.

"Hello Natsuru, you seem to be startled, everything alright?", she replied.

"Ah yeah, the phone just surprised me a little", he said chuckling nervously.

"I see, but anyways. I was poking around to see what I could dig up on Kaede. It's very strange, the school's records on her are very limited, not much is known about her."

"Well, sorta saw that one coming, I mean she's not exactly human. Right?"

"Not sure, but we do know that she is definitely a moderator, which makes me even more nervous. Her absence records only say that she is 'sick', same goes for the other four. They're definitely up to something."

Natsuru's thoughts shot back to Shousuke, the other Black Kampfer. He hasn't heard back from him ever since Natsuru joined up with them. 'Maybe he's out looking for others?', he thought. Natsuru felt that he should tell Shizuku about Shousuke and his plans, but for some reason, decided not to.

"Natsuru?", said Shizuku.

"Oh, sorry! But yeah, I hear you. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them."

"Mmm, just be careful", said Shizuku.

Natsuru closed his phone and set it down on the table. He leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling and rested his head on the back of his chair. He was glad that there hasn't been much conflict in a while, but with that said, it's as if he was postponing the inevitable. Pretty soon he'll be up to his neck dealing with the Whites and being involved with Shousuke. Should he give him a call right now? No, that'd be pointless. He was feeling a bit agitated though, the thought of expecting to get into a fight or encountering an enemy at any moment can wear you down pretty quickly. Maybe that's just what he needs right now, a good fight to shake off the stress and irritation. He chuckled to himself and at his contradictory thought process. He was feeling edgy and irritable, sitting back in his chair, he made a pissed off look and went back to his homework.

"Natsuruuuuu~", groaned the blue haired woman as she barged into his room. She fell onto his bed as if the life had been sucked out of her. "Fooooood, hungryyyy", she whined, weakly flailing her arms about like a child.

He tilted his head to look at Natsume, who was still doing whatever she was doing on his bed. "Not now, Natsume", he said.

Natsume stopped and sat up in the bed, a little taken back by Natsuru's attitude, "Is something wrong?", she asked.

"Nothing's wrong…"

She knew something was obviously wrong. She got up from the bed and walked over next to Natsuru, who seemed to be ignoring her presence. She looked at his face, then to the mess of papers laid out on the table. He was staring intently at the papers in front of him, arms crossed with a serious expression. Natsume hesitated for a moment, afraid that she might spark a negative reaction. She walked behind him and placed her hands on his broad shoulders, which were feeling very tense to the touch. Natsuru snapped his body forwards to get away from her reach, which shocked her quite a bit.

"Natsuru…wha-"

"Can't you see I'm busy?", snapped Natsuru.

"What's wrong with you? You're acting strange!", Natsume snapped back.

"How? If anyone's acting strange, it's you! Getting all close to that Aizawa guy."

"What? He's a friend, Natsuru! He's the first friend I've made on my own, I thought you'd be happy for me…"

"Yeah? Well, good for you."

The room fell silent, with the two of them awkwardly waiting for one another to say something. Natsuru was surprised at himself, he's never gotten so irritated over anything, so why now? He wanted to be happy for her, he didn't want to snap at her, but something just took over him.

"…Natsuru…are you…jealous?", asked Natsume finally.

Natsuru was shocked. Jealousy? Was that what he was feeling? "What do you know…", said Natsuru.

"I'd never do something like that, Natsuru", she said putting her hand on his shoulder once again.

He stood up from his chair and broke away from her. He headed towards the door without saying a word to her.

"Where are you going?", asked Natsume with worry.

"A walk", he said as he disappeared from her view past the doorway, leaving her alone in the room.

A walk sounded good to him right now, should give him some time to clear his head. Natsuru was surprised even at himself, actually being jealous of some other guy, he thought as he slipped on a pair of shoes and walked out the door. He stepped out into the porch that was lit by a wall lamp and into the cool, alluring air. He continued his trek up the street, lit by a series of street lamps and one or two cars passing by. Maybe his feelings of irritation were from his lack of experience with relationships. He shrugged it off and quickly came to his conclusion that he may have been acting a bit immature…just a bit. Apologizing to her when he got back would be the right thing to do, but he felt a little embarrassed for having acted that way. Before he realized it, he arrived at the local convenience store. He figured he might as well go in and buy something, being right there and all. Natsuru nonchalantly walked in, picked up some manga, snacks, and some canned coffee. He looked at the items in the bag that hung by his side, hoping that they would serve as some form of an apology. Natsuru started walking when he froze in place from the grasp of a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey there."

Natsuru stumbled forwards and quickly turned around to see that it was Shousuke and Nanami, the Black Kampfers he met at the beach. "Phew, you guys scared me", said Natsuru.

Shousuke let out a hearty laugh, "Sorry about that, didn't think we'd see you so soon honestly. We just happened by, you live around here?", said Shousuke.

"Yeah I do, but, if you guys are here, does that mean you're finished with your business?", asked Natsuru.

"Not quite", said Nanami. "We've found some other Black Kampfers but we're having a hard time getting them to cooperate. By the way, where's the other one?"

"Oh uhh, she's at home right now."

"That's a bit dangerous, Natsuru", said Shousuke. "What if we were the enemy? Then you'd have been unable to defend yourself since she's nowhere nearby."

He was right, Natsuru made a reckless decision to come out alone, on top of that he left alone at night. "I…I wasn't thinking", replied Natsuru.

Shousuke and Nanami looked at each other for a moment, "Hey, you okay man?", asked Shousuke.

"Yeah…", said Natsuru. "She and I just got into a little argument is all."

"Ah, I see. Well then you'd better-

Shousuke stopped himself and proceeded draw his weapon with Nanami following suite. The three huddled together with their backs touching, aware that there were a great number of enemies surrounding them. Natsuru tried to tap into his power, but even after he did he felt no big difference. He cursed under his breath, blaming himself for getting into this predicament. Had he not been so stubborn back then, none of this would have happened. His mind was racing with regret and forlorn.

"Natsuru!", shouted Shousuke. "Focus!"

Natsuru snapped back to attention, now was not definitely not the time for that. He has to make it out of this one alive.

A/N: I'm trying to add some more romantic aspects without sacrificing from the action/adventure genre with presenting some typical relationship problems. Didn't bother re-reading this chapter (like I usually should :P), hope it's alright :D

As always, I shall do my best to get these out sooner. Although I have not been doing a very good job with that :x

Comments, criticisms, etc are always welcome!

つづく！