Kano fumbled through his pocket for his key. Muttering to

himself, he dropped one of the two bags onto the ground and shifted Kaoru so he was holding her on his hip, with her arms around his neck. He angrily opened the door, dragging the bags as well as Kaoru's soaked, unconscious body into the room. He shut the door and turned on the lights, then moved closer to her so he could examine what had happened.

The first thing he noticed was nothing about her state of health. Due to the rain, Kaoru's loose shirt clung to her curves, flamboyantly showing off her figure.

Kano's jaw dropped a few inches lower than he thought possible, and all he could do was stare at the rising and falling motion of her chest. He bent over and tilted her head up to look at her.

The only response he got was shivering.

Kano was mentally killing himself. How could he be so dense as to not know her gender! No wonder she was so freaked out in the boys' bathroom! He sighed and scooped her into his arms, carrying her off to get her warm.

-+-+-

Kano had never been so embarrassed in his entire life. Kaoru was sleeping in front of his on his bed, in one of his t-shirts and one of his older, smaller pair of boxers. Changing her clothes had been one of the most humiliating experiences in his life. He felt like such a wuss. What kind of man is embarrassed over female anatomy? He looked over at Kaoru and immediately blushed again.

He had to give her some credit; she definitely knew how to hide her bodacious body. He slapped his forehead and gave himself a mental pep talk.

Snap out of it, Kano! She's still your best friend, only you know she's a girl now. Not to mention she has hot soccer skills, almost as hot as her body, you know...

"DAMN IT!" He got up and paced around the room. The mental pep talk had not worked. Not at all. He sighed. How was he supposed to take this? He could take his best friend being a girl. Yes, that was okay. She proved herself cool.

But an absolutely, incredibly hot girl?! How was ANY guy supposed to handle that?! Kano furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. This whole 'talking to himself about his problems' thing wasn't working. He was just getting excited over his friend... who happened to be lying on his bed asleep in his room in the middle of the night on a Friday evening when they were the only two in the house...

Kano left to take a cold shower.

-+-+-

He was not a chef. He didn't know how to create amazing soufflés or exotic dishes. But if you were in need of Easy Mac, Tobidogu Kano was your guy. He made a double recipe, because he figured once Kaoru woke up she'd probably be hungry.

"I mean... she even has a unisex name! How's a guy supposed to know?!"

"Know what?" Kano turned to the side, seeing Kaoru leaning on the counter, grinning at him. "Some of that had better be for me."

Kano stared at her. She wasn't embarrassed he had changed her, or angry about it or anything?

"You... okay?" He managed to stutter.

She laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll have a mega bruise on the back of my head, though. I told you we shouldn't have played in the rain!"

"I know, I'm sorry. It was my entire fault you were hurt! I should have been more careful! I should have listened to you! Please forgive me?"

Kaoru stared at Kano, speechless. She then gave him a good smack across the face.

"You idiot, it wasn't your fault. What is wrong with you?" She reached over and took the entire bowl of Easy Mac. "You're being weird..."

Kano blinked, as he realized he was acting differently only because he now knew she was a female. Not only that, your bitch just stole your Easy Mac!!!

"Hey!!!"

Kaoru turned around, a spoon shoved into her mouth and cheese on her face. She swallowed and gave him a big smile.

"You... go make more!"

"What?! No way! Cooking is a woman's job! You do it!"

"Hell no! You made it perfectly! Besides, if you don't make it you won't get to eat any, because this bowl is mine!!!"

"What?! No fair!"

And with that, Kano pounced on Kaoru, sending them both to the ground. The Easy Mac flew up in the air, landing on Kano's head. Kaoru couldn't contain her laughter, and practically died laughing as she helped Kano pick the macaroni out of his hair.

"You know, Kano... you aren't the brightest crayon in the box..."

"Shut up, Kaoru..."

She raised her eyebrows. "What, no 'Matsubara'?"

Kano looked at her oddly. "Well, normally girls aren't called by their last name, you know..."

Kaoru laughed. "I guess so, but you always have. I don't know; do whatever you want." She walked out of the room with a yawn, peeping her head back in to declare "I'm going to sleep."

Kano watched her go, a smile growing wider and wider on his face as he finished cleaning the kitchen and his hair of their little mess.

"She really is one in a million..."

Heh. I bet you all hate me. I don't blame you. I have about 9 more chapters I've written on this. I'm just a lazy ass, I know.