Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. The story I'm writing is mine.

Hello.

This is the next chapter, obviously.

Anyway, just get reading!

Chapter Eight: Surprise Shopping Trip

The next day passed by with no particular troubles. Along with the next day, and the next. Wolfe didn't seem to be plotting anything, but Richter was cautious anyway.

For that week, Richter stuck to Emil like glue.

…Well, as much as school would let him. During the classes they were apart, Richter seemed to be on edge, constantly tapping his pencil on the desk, or frequently looking at the classroom clock. This kind of behavior for Richter was definitely unusual, compared to his usual cold, unmoving glare.

Lunch arrived, and Emil was holding two lunchboxes; one for himself and the other for Wolfe. Since the tennis player had asked, it wouldn't do any harm to give him some food, right? Emil could also try out some new recipes and give it to him to see if he likes it. If Wolfe liked his food, then maybe Emil could cook some healthier food for Richter; he had been eating a lot of fast food for dinner.

As Emil started to leave to search for Wolfe, he was greeted by Richter, who suddenly regained his frigid glare.

"Where are you going?" he asked not too kindly.

"I-I'm just going to look for… a friend!" Emil replied, thinking over his answer for Richter. If he even mentioned anything about Wolfe, Richter would surely get mad at him.

"I'll go with you," Richter said firmly.

"B-But…," Emil stuttered, trying to find a solution, "it's a bit private…"

Richter's eyes narrowed. Private?

"Hey there, Emil," said Wolfe passing by, "Richter."

Richter glared in response. He didn't really want to look at this guy right now. Especially, since he was slowly inching his way towards the oblivious Emil.

"Hey," Wolfe said with sudden interest, pointing at the two boxes in Emil's hands "is that for me?"

"Uh…well, that is…," the blonde started to mutter out. This guy was sneaking an arm around Emil's shoulders while reaching for the mentioned lunch box in his hands. So much for being subtle.

"Thanks, Emil!" the athlete smiled as he took the top box in Emil's hands, "You're such a nice guy! You cook well, and you're not bad-looking either."

Richter was glaring daggers at Wolfe the whole time. It seems Wolfe was gradually becoming immune to his glares, but not completely. The black-eyed playboy still shivered a bit under his frigid stare. But Wolfe remained unshaken, only wrapping his arms around the princess' shoulders.

Ohh… this boy was just asking for war.

"So, Emil," Wolfe almost growled into his ear, "Are you free for the weekend?"

"W-W-W-What!" Emil practically squeaked out, starting to struggle in his attacker's grasp.

"He's busy," Richter said rather coldly, pulling Wolfe off of his angel.

"Doing what, if I may ask," Wolfe asked, standing next to Emil again, still holding the lunch box, "Maybe I could join you."

"Grocery shopping," Richter said bluntly. The most boring thing that he could think of for a playboy jock like Wolfe would be grocery shopping. Richter would bet that all Wolfe ever thought of would be tennis and girls. And he was right.

"Grocery shopping…," Wolfe hesitated. He had been grocery shopping before with his mom, but it could be close to the most horrifying thing next to hell. She kept pushing energy drinks and vegetables onto him, insisting that "it's good for you and you should eat ten servings a day." Sure, he understood that vegetables were good for him, but a guy would like some meat in his diet, too!

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Wolfe suddenly smiled and said cheerfully, "Have fun shopping, you guys! And thanks for the lunch box, Emil." He then walked away as cheerful as a dog with a bone.

That was strange…, Emil thought as Wolfe walked away down the hall, humming a happy tune.

Richter, seeing Wolfe's expression from slight horror to sudden happiness, was definitely suspicious of him. Wolfe had a plan. He didn't know what it was, but that little dog had some sort of plan brewing.

Richter scowled, and then told Emil to hurry up because the lunch bell rang and they had to get to class.

Emil followed behind him, since their classrooms were right next to each other.

During Emil's Geometry class with Mr. Regal Bryant, the angel sat thinking and dazing off into his daydream world. What happened at lunch was very uncomfortable. Wolfe was all over him. But maybe that's what he does with his other teammates…? After all, the stronger guys tended to get into playful fist fights, so maybe Wolfe was doing that to show his friendship?

"Emil!" Mr. Bryant repeated for the third time, finally bringing Emil back down to Earth, "What did I just say?"

"Ummm…"

He was surely going to get detention for that.

dOoOb

Meanwhile, Richter was trying to concentrate on his English class, but his mind was on other things. Specifically that playboy dog, Wolfe. Just what was that guy planning to do? Stalk them? The horror…

"Mr. Abend, could you please translate this sentence for us?" asked the old English teacher.

Richter wordlessly got up from his seat, translated the sentence, and then quickly sat back down at his seat. There were simply too many distractions now. He would have to try and pry Wolfe's plan apart later.

dOoOb

Drama class, the final class of the day, finally approached. Everyone was busy doing something; making the costumes, building props, or memorizing lines.

Richter was flipping through his lines again, occasionally looking from the script in his hands to Emil. Because Wolfe was at a tennis game, he didn't have to worry too much about his little angel being assaulted. The play was only two weeks from now, so everyone was busy rehearsing and making last minute adjustments to this outfit or that backdrop; no one would have time to even think about romance at this critical time.

Emil favored the busy-body atmosphere of the class. It really made him feel like he could do something to help, especially since everyone was surprisingly friendly. Although, there was this one time when Duke put his arm around his shoulders for a second before letting go with a stiff expression… that was a little strange. Many backstage crew members often asked him to help paint if he wasn't busy memorizing his lines. Others asked him to carry this piece of wood there and other little odd jobs when he wasn't busy.

The class eventually finished, the cast letting out a small sigh of relief that the day was done. "Only two more weeks!" Marta said with a grin, "Make sure to get your lines memorized!"

"I-I will!" Emil said with determination as he waved goodbye. It was Friday, so tomorrow was also grocery shopping day. He glanced at Richter for a moment before quickly snapping his head face-forward. Richter caught him for a split second, and made a questioning expression before packing the last of the supplies away.

"…Let's go home," Richter said, gesturing Emil to follow him. The blond quietly picked up his things and followed him obediently. Emil still cast curious glances to the redhead's back, a lingering question egging the back of his mind.

As the pair quickly arrived at the dorms, there was a figure waiting near the gate. Richter was immediately suspicious, catching a glimpse of a sports jacket. He stopped in his tracks, causing Emil to bump head-first into his back.

"I-I'm sor – "

"Shh," Richter hushed as he approached the gate, gesturing Emil to hide. Emil got the message and hastily hid behind the wall. However, as Richter got closer to the figure, he noticed it was more feminine than masculine. The figure turned, hearing the nearing footsteps and smiled.

"Richter!"

Crap, the redhead thought before being caught in a rather large bear hug. He had forgotten that Aqua was in the swim team. She was wearing the general sports jacket that all sports team member got for free once they got onto any sports team. The sleeves were navy blue while the torso was white. There was a single black stripe that ran along the sleeves down the sides of the jacket. On the back, big black lettering that read, "SYMPHONIAN HIGH SWIM TEAM," was printed in sky blue, the swim team's color. The logo on the back was blocked by the wall so he automatically assumed it was that raging Wolfe.

"I missed you so much~," the petite girl whined, "Let's never fight again!" He just groaned before Emil walked out to see what the commotion was. Once he saw that it was the blue-haired girl, he made to run, but Aqua noticed him immediately.

"Hey," Aqua shouted, making Emil freeze mid-step, "Aren't you that cross-dressing guy…um… Emil, right?" The boy had no idea how to respond to such a question. He slowly turned, and smiled weakly, acknowledging that, yes, he was that cross-dressing boy.

"…H-Hi?" he weakly spoke out. The girl's judging stare didn't help to his nervousness.

After a few moments of silence, Richter made to pry the aquatic girl off of him. Aqua, broken out of her slight trance, reluctantly let go of him, but clapped her hands once, making the other two spectators jump in surprise.

"Okay, it's settled," she suddenly announced, "We are going to go shopping tomorrow."

"W-What?" Emil burst out in confusion. "B-But, I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow!" he protested.

Richter wasn't extremely surprised; he had been victim to one too many surprise shopping trips of Aqua's in the past. "Sorry, Aqua," Richter said before grabbing Emil's wrist and gently pulled him toward the dorm gate, "but like Emil said, he's busy, so he can't."

"Weeeeelll," the girl drawled out, "isn't grocery shopping, shopping? We can always drop the food off after before going to the outdoor mall." Richter became quiet. "Good," she said in a chipper tone along with a big grin, "I'll come to wake you guys up!" Aqua then walked away with a skip in her step.

Richter inwardly groaned before briskly walking towards the dorm building, dragging Emil along with him. He walked past the decorated lobby and went into their room. He let go of Emil's wrist once they entered, put his black, sling-over bag down, and went to the bathroom door.

"I'm going to shower first, okay?" he said before shutting the door. He didn't wait for an answer.

Emil sighed, sitting on his bed and looking out the window. He took his overly flowery bag off his shoulder, knowing that he still had plenty of homework to do before night really fell.

It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

I AM ALIVE.

Isn't it amazing?

It seems that I'll only be able to update during the summer…*sob*

Anyway, I'll continue to write a chapter every week, just like I did before, but this time on Sunday/Monday.

So, as usual, reviews are appreciated.

I'm going to reply to you guys and gals now, so be prepared for short little messages from me.

Thanks for reading!