Mitsukaru High

by snooperj

AU Tenimyu. Prelude to AfY. How the two couples began during their days in Senior High, with Takigawa and Kimeru in their 2nd year, and Shirota and Aiba in their 1st.

8. School Productions

Title: Mitsukaru High

Author/Artist: snooperj & Bloodysamurai

Series/Pairing(s): TeniMyu; Mainly Takigawa Eiji x Kimeru & Shirota Yuu x Aiba Hiroki

Notes: An alternative universe type of fanfiction, my partner and I take you to how the two couples began during their days in Senior High, with Takigawa and Kimeru in their 2nd year, and Shirota and Aiba in their 1st. This fanfiction will run from that setting until Shirota and Aiba's graduation from Senior High two years later. Most of the information here are either altered, made-up or real altogether. Hints of other pairings shall also be introduced, therefore expect to be seeing other members of the TeniMyu cast to show up in this Mitsukaru Senior High setting. This is meant to serve as a prequel to our fanfiction 'Anything for You'.

Here is the 8th chapter entitled School Productions. This chapter focuses on Mitsukaru putting on a musical production for the quarter, managed by the Student Council. The chosen production was Broadway's RENT. With Takigawa and Shirota as part of the cast, Kimeru and Aiba share different views with their respective partner's involvement in the musical.

Shirota and Aiba share their sweet kisses with one another when they visit each other – Aiba teaching Shirota tango for the musical, and Shirota helping Aiba move back in with his family. Kimeru, now alone in the dorm, moves in with Takigawa.

Oh yeeeees. Another disclaimer. RENT is not ours, obviously.

**ALSO! None of the authors of this roleplay/fanfic own TeniMyu or the actors, but are mere fangirls of the musical series and corresponding actors we write about. Everything that progresses in the story is the creation of our witty imaginations.

---

Come Monday, Aiba had arrived early once again. He looked around and noticed that no one else was there. He sat at his desk and waited for Shirota. He had spoken to his family the day before and he decided that it would be easier for him to leave the dorms and come back home.

Kimeru knew about this already, and he didn't complain; the junior had anticipated it happening since Aiba told him that he was in touch with his family again.

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Lunch time had strolled around and Takigawa had thought of going to visit Kimeru in his classroom for a change. He peeked into the room before Nagayan pulled him inside.

"WE WERE WAITING FOR YOU!!" he said brightly, sitting him beside Kimeru. "Here, talk with him. He's feeling upset and he won't tell us about it."

Takigawa blinked, unsettled for a moment before he turned to Kimeru. "Eh... So..."

Kimeru glanced at him before turning his attention to the empty seat in front of him and sighing heavily. "Aiba is moving out of the dorms," he stated simply.

"So you lost your roommate... It's not as if you had trouble living on your own in the dorms last year, right?" Takigawa offered.

"I didn't..." Kimeru said. "But that's because I slept at Nagayan's place at least three times a week." He looked at Nagayan and glared at him. "…and apparently I won't be able to do it now since he's dating some guy from section one that practically lives with them right now."

"Oh, you mean Tuti?" Takigawa inquired innocently, grinning at him. "Don't forget that I'm from the same section."

Kimeru's eyes went wide as he looked at Takigawa before turning his attention to Nagayan. "You're dating that nerd?!" he exclaimed.

Nagayan frowned before motioning towards Takigawa. "And you're not?" he asked.

Kimeru grinned. "Takigawa isn't just a nerd, he's also a jock rolled into one," he said. "Kidding, Takigawa," he added quickly.

"But still....Tuti?!"

Nagayan shrugged. "He's a good guy... Hey… are you trying to turn to spotlight towards me? I'm not the one with the problem here," he said.

"I don't recall there ever being a problem to begin with..." Takigawa admitted. "Unless you're not used to being alone..." he added.

"I'm used to being alone!!!" Kimeru snapped. Nagayan and the others looked at him and he frowned. ".....fine I'm not..." he admitted.

Takigawa patted Kimeru on the shoulder before he got to his feet. "You'll find some way to get by, Kime-kun. Saa, I have to go help make some final arrangements to this quarter's Council project with Moriyama-senpai and Shirotan. Ja!" He nodded to the group before leaving the 2-3 classroom and headed off to the Council Room.

"Why didn't you just ask him?!" Daisuke asked as soon as Takigawa went out.

"Ask him what?" Kimeru asked, looking at Daisuke.

"Ask if you can just stay with him! Honestly Kimeru...sometimes you're just too slow to pick up---" Daisuke was cut off when Kimeru threw the thick science book at him.

"Shut up, Daisuke!" he snapped. He frowned as he looked at Daisuke who was now being helped to his feet by Furukawa. "Wait a minute..." he suddenly said, and everyone looked at him. "Did he just call me Kime-kun?" he asked.

Everybody made a mental face palm. 'Slow!' they thought.

----------

Aiba looked at his lunch before turning his attention to Shirota. "Shirota-kun...do you want to help me move back in with my family?" he asked suddenly.

Shirota was halfway to his feet. "Ah, so you've decided to move back with them, then?" he said, smiling at him before nodded. "Sure, Aibacchin. But can we talk more about this later? I have to meet with Moriyama-senpai and Takigawa-senpai about the Council's big project for the quarter," he explained, slipping his empty tupperware into his bag as he rose to his feet. "Ja." With that, he left.

"Sure," Aiba said with a smile before waving at Shirota as he left.

"So.....Aibacchin..." Endo started.

"Don't call me that!" Aiba snapped at him.

"Er...sure…so...Aiba..." Endo continued. "Are you and Shirota together?"

"You'll have to get him to answer that one, Endo-kun," Aiba answered as he turned his attention back to his lunch.

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In the Council Room, the rest of lunch break for the members of the Student Council were spent making revisions and final plans with the musical. After much debate, Shirota presented the list of the students who would take part - one from each class besides themselves.

Moriyama took the list and read it. "This should be about right. We'll schedule a meeting with them all tomorrow after school," he announced. "You two can head back to your classrooms. Thanks for the help."

Takigawa and Shirota nodded and stood, bowing to their president before exiting the Council Room.

"Looks like you and I have a shot at being in a musical, Eiji-kun," Shirota teased.

Takigawa slapped the boy on the head. "Like I'm going to be a part of the cast..." he stated.

"It could happen. Your voice isn't so bad, after all..." Shirota reassured the older boy, patting him on the shoulder as Takigawa shrugged.

They parted ways and returned to their respective classrooms. Takigawa, upon reaching his classroom, was confronted by Furukawa. Blinking for a moment, Takigawa asked, "What's wrong with Kimeru now?"

"What happened to calling him 'Kime-kun'?" Furukawa teased. "I'll cut to the chase Takigawa-kun," he started. "We -as in Kimeru's friends and yes that involves Daisuke too- want you to ask Kimeru to stay with you if it's possible." He looked at Takigawa seriously. "Kimeru really can't be trusted to take care of himself. That was why Nagayan had to look after him at least thrice a week and when Aiba-kun came along he was the one who kept an eye on him," he said. "You can even ask Aiba-kun about it, I'm sure he'd tell you." He paused. "So I think that's it," Furukawa said as the smile came back. "Do keep in mind what I just said, Takigawa-kun." He bowed a bit before heading back to his seat.

Takigawa's eyes followed Furukawa as he returned to his seat. Pursing his lips, he stepped back into the room and took his own seat. 'Not that I mind, though...i he thought to himself, the hint of a smirk appearing on his own features.

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Fortunately, the teacher after lunch for first year section one was absent, thus giving them a free period. "Oi, Shirota!!" Endo called out.

"Doushita, Endo-kun?" Shirota inquired as he re-entered the classroom.

Endo walked up to him. "Do you and Aiba have a thing for each other?" he asked bluntly.

"E...Eh?" Shirota stammered.

"Aiba told us to ask you," Yanagi added, walking up beside Endo, folding his arms across his chest.

Shirota looked over to Aiba for a moment before sighing, eventually nodding. "Aa. We do," he replied clearly.

"U-SO!!" Endo and Yanagi stated in momentary disbelief at the same time before grinning to one another. "WE KNEW IT!"

Zukki, who heard this a few seats down, stared at the Endo and Yanagi. "Really Shirota-kun?! You and Aiba-kun?" he asked.

Aiba sighed. "Yes, so now stop making a big deal about it!!" he told the rest of the class who were either giving each other high fives or were handing each other certain amounts of money.

"WAIT!!" Zukki suddenly yelled, effectively grabbing the attention of the class. "So are you two together?" he asked, all eyes fell on Aiba and Shirota.

Aiba smirked before standing up to walk towards Shirota. "What do you think?" he asked before taking hold of Shirota's hand.

"It took a while..." Shirota began. "But yes... we are..." he finished, nodding to the rest of his classmates, who proceeded to cheer in applause. Shirota turned to Aiba. "Who knew this would turn into such a big thing, huh?" he said with a nervous chuckle. "Saa, about those plans of you moving back with your family..." he continued, moving to their desks.

Aiba grinned. "Aa...it would seem that we were obvious enough to let everyone notice the tension between us," he said. "So anyway...I was planning to move back this Saturday. I'm sure my mother would be pleased to see you again…" he began as he proceeded to tell Shirota of his plans.

The next day after school, Aiba was heading to the school auditorium. He was assigned by Yagami to cover the preparations of the upcoming school musical, along with the musical itself. He opened the door and looked inside.

"Aiba-kun, just in time," Yagami said as he waved at Aiba.

"Er...hai..." Aiba said as he approached him.

"I've already talked to the people in charge and they said that it's fine with them," Yagami said as he led him to the front row seats. "Here you go. Pay attention, Aiba-kun," he said before joining the other people onstage.

Aiba nodded before looking at the group. "Hmm...Yanagi-kun....Kazuki-kun and Shiozawa-kun from the first years..." he muttered as he took down notes. "Toru-senpai, Kawai-senpai and Sota-senpai for the second years and Yagami-senpai, Takumi-senpai and Moriyama-senpai for the seniors...that's strange...they said that there were 11 people in the cast...I only see 9..." he said before looking around.

"Check over there," Takigawa's voice called from backstage as he stepped out. "The previous production used it before, so it shouldn't be hard to---"

"FOUND IT!!" Shirota exclaimed, cycling onto the stage, circling the others before coming to a stop.

"It's dangerous!" Kazuki yelled, pointing threateningly at Shirota. "That bicycle is not to be trusted!"

Shirota put down the break stand and got off the bike. "A-re? Why not?" he inquired.

"Because Kazuki fell off that same bike during last year's production. Quite a number of times," Takumi supplied.

"You didn't have to bring that up!" Kazuki stated heatedly.

Aiba heard a familiar voice, causing him to look up. "SHIROTA-KUN?! TAKIGAWA-SENPAI?!" he exclaimed, standing up in surprise.

Shirota and Takigawa turned to Aiba. "Doushita?" they inquired simultaneously.

"I'm telling you, we don't need to use this!" Kazuki complained.

"Yes we do!" Shirota fired back, turning his attention to Kazuki, taking hold of the bike before Kazuki could push it offstage. "You won't be the one riding it!" Shirota added, causing Kazuki to stop.

"Oh..."

Takigawa approached Moriyama and handed him a piece of paper. "Here's the final list you wanted me to print out..." he muttered.

"What's wrong? You don't like the casting?" Moriyama inquired, a grin spread across his face as he took the paper and scanned through it.

Takigawa glared over to Moriyama but said nothing.

Aiba shook his head and sat back down. '....now I know why Yagami-senpai assigned me here instead of Adachi...' he thought with a frown. He looked at his notebook, which was a replacement of his old one which he lost a few days back, and listed down the last two cast members.

"Yosh!" Moriyama announced, clapping his hands together and getting everybody's attention. "I'll now be announcing the cast list and the corresponding roles for our rendition of the musical RENT." He consulted the list for a minute. "Oh yes, Baba Toru and Shiozawa Hidemasa shall be directing this production alongside me. So, onto our cast! Playing the role of Benny, we have Kawai Ryunosuke!" he began, gesturing to the second year.

Ryunosuke merely nodded in recognition.

"Next, playing the role of Collins, Aoyama Sota!" Moriyama continued.

"Isn't he that philosophy professor...?" Sota inquired as Moriyama nodded.

"Yagami Ren shall be playing the role of Angel!"

Yagami smiled fondly at this decision but said nothing, allowing Moriyama to continue.

"The roles of Joanne and Maureen will be played by Kato Kazuki and Saito Takumi respectively."

Kazuki and Takumi glared over to one another before simultaneously exclaiming, "WHAT?!?!?!"

Moriyama chuckled. "The role of Mark will be played by Shirota Yuu!"

Shirota grinned over nervously to Aiba before nodding. "Aa..."

"Next, the role of Mimi will be taken by Yanagi Kotaro!" Moriyama shouted, pointing to the freshman.

Yanagi pointed to himself. "M...Me?" he asked in disbelief.

"And finally, the role of Roger will be played by Takigawa Eiji!" Moriyama finished.

Aiba simply smiled at Shirota before giving him a thumbs-up sign.

"Takigawa is who?!" Kimeru asked loudly as he burst into the room. He was about to charge at Moriyama when four pairs of hands held him back and dragged him out of the auditorium.

"Er...give us a minute," Nagayan said before closing the door.

Aiba blinked and stared at the closed doors for while, and after a few moments it opened again and in walked the band club along with Kimeru who was a bit calmer.

"Band Club's here for the songs!" Konishi announced, leading the group towards the stage area.

"Ah, very good, very good..!" Moriyama stated, moving to the edge of the stage to meet with them. "Here's the list of the songs we'll be using for the musical," he explained, handing out another piece of paper to Konishi.

----------

Shirota returned to the bike and examined it. "But seriously, I don't think you'd hate a bike just because you kept falling down, Kazuki..." he reasoned, getting on it and was about to take off around the stage again before Kazuki stopped him.

"That bike is cursed!" Kazuki proclaimed. "I kept falling down because--"

"Because you didn't know how to use the brakes properly," Takumi finished.

Kazuki turned to Takumi, glaring dangerously at the senior. "WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING THEM THESE THINGS?!" he demanded. "Takumi-senpai!"

A chase scene between the two members of the drama club started as Toru and Shiozawa began talking about the script.

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Kimeru looked at Aiba. "You don't mind it?" he asked the freshman.

Aiba shook his head. "No... Should I mind it?" he inquired.

Kimeru frowned. "Whatever Aiba..." he said as he joined the rest of the band club who was looking at the list of songs.

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Shirota cycled another round around the stage to test out the bike some more.

Takigawa sat down on the stage, heaving a sigh of relief.

"You do know the musical we're doing, right? Takigawa-senpai..." Yanagi inquired, approaching the second year.

Takigawa nodded. "Aah. The songs, however, were decided by Moriyama-senpai..." he explained.

As if waiting for that cue, Konishi looked up from the paper he was holding. "Attention, please! We're going to play some of the songs we have on the list so that you already have an idea of the tune," he said before nodding at the band, the members of which were just about finished setting up the instruments.

"Oi, Kime! Catch!" Nagayan said as he threw Kimeru one of the microphones while Ken'ichiro had the other one.

"Okay...this will be the line-up of the songs we will be playing: Seasons of Love and La vie Boheme by the whole cast, Tango Maureen by Mark and Joanne, One Song Glory by Roger and Light my Candle by Roger and Mimi," Konishi said as he consulted the list once more. "Yosh! Let's begin!" he nodded again to the band before they started playing.

Shirota stopped when the band started playing and got off the bike to listen to the songs. He paused when he realized that he would be doing a duet with Kazuki, who had stopped chasing after Takumi to listen as well.

Suddenly, a thought struck them both before pointing at one another incredulously. "AHH!! THAT MEAN'S WE HAVE TO DANCE TOGETHER!!!" they declared.

"Oi, quiet down so we can listen to the songs," Sota complained, effectively hushing the two freshmen.

Aiba had to hold back his laughter when he heard Kazuki and Shirota speak up.

Kimeru was looking at Yanagi dangerously as he sang the songs.

As the club was singing excerpts of each song after re-introducing who was going to sing them, Takigawa rubbed the back of his head in frustration. "Of all the times for me to get a solo..." he muttered to himself.

Yanagi blinked as he subconsciously stepped away from Takigawa as he noticed Kimeru glaring at him. The freshman approached the nearest person to him besides the second year - Moriyama.

----------

After performing parts of the songs, Konishi spoke again. "If any of you would like help on the songs feel free to approach any of the band members," he said with a smile; the band nodded in agreement.

Ken'ichiro approached Shirota and handed him a copy of Tango Maureen. "Good luck memorizing the song and the tango steps, Shirota-kun. I had a hard time with that dance back in junior high," he said.

----------

Kimeru walked up to Takigawa and gave him the copy of Light my Candle and One Song Glory before walking towards Yanagi to hand him a copy of the first song as well. "Here..." he said as he gave the paper to the freshman.

Takigawa reviewed the songs and paused when he read the notes for his solo. "But... I don't know how to play the guitar..." he admitted, looking over to Kimeru.

"I can teach you....or better yet...why don't you ask Shirota-kun to teach you?" Kimeru suggested.

Takigawa looked over to Shirota and considered it; after all, the younger boy was fond of composing songs and brought his guitar along to their sleep over when he was in the middle of completing a song. Blinking, he looked back over to Kimeru. "How did you know that Shirotan knows how to play?"

Kimeru grinned. "We were scouting the first years if there was anyone worthy enough to become a band member," he said. "It was too bad that Shirota-kun was more inclined to soccer."

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Shirota took the lyrics and nodded. "Let's just hope I don't mess them up, na?" he mused lightly.

Moriyama approached him. "Can I assume that you know how to--"

Shirota immediately shook his head. "Not in the least."

Moriyama frowned before turning to the crowd at large. "Oi, anybody know how to tango here?" he asked.

The band looked at one another before shaking their heads. Aiba raised his hand. "I know how to dance the tango..." he said.

Both Shirota and Moriyama turned to Aiba as the latter of the two grinned.

"Excellent!" he said brightly, patting Shirota on the shoulder. "I leave Shirota-kun with you then, Aiba-kun!" he said before looking around for Kazuki. "Kazuki! Do you need someone to teach you how to--"

"I KNOW HOW!" Kazuki barked out in reply, stopping momentarily from running after Takumi.

"Just checking..." Moriyama called before looking around. "Yosh... Everything seems to be in order now... Toru-kun! Shiozawa-kun! Can I expect the scripts to be ready for distribution by tomorrow?" he asked as Toru nodded.

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"So that's why..." Takigawa trailed off and nodded. "I'll ask him about it, then... Which reminds me... About our earlier discussion about you not having a roommate once Aiba-kun leaves... You could always stay with me if you want to..."

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Aiba smiled at Shirota. "I can teach you Shirota-kun," he said. "When would you like to start practicing?" he asked.

Shirota nodded. "I'd appreciate it, Aibacchin," he said with a grin. "And probably--"

"Ne, why can Shirota call you Aibacchin and we can't?" Yanagi interjected, walking towards his classmates, the lyrics to his duet with Takigawa in hand.

Aiba looked at Yanagi and glared. "That's because you're not Shirota-kun," he said.

Shirota laughed to clear the tension, patting Yanagi on the shoulder. "Saa, can I take a look at that song for a minute, Yanagi-kun?" he said distractedly, leading Yanagi to a side of the stage so he could recover from Aiba's response.

Aiba smirked before turning his attention back to his notebook.

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Kimeru stared at Takigawa for a while. "Are...are you serious?!" he asked in disbelief.

Takigawa nodded. "I wouldn't have offered otherwise," he replied pointedly.

Kimeru smiled. "That's great! I mean sure! I mean....argh darn it..." he said before deciding to hug Takigawa. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, causing the others to look at them.

"You're welcome," Takigawa replied sheepishly.

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Shirota was looking through the lyrics from Yanagi's copy before looking over to Takigawa and Kimeru, his eyes widening in surprise.

Aiba looked at the two juniors as well. "Takigawa-senpai and Kimeru-senpai...they sure don't waste any time don't they?" he muttered.

Shirota returned the lyrics to Yanagi and headed over to Aiba, leaning forward to whisper in the boy's ear. "That's because they've been admiring each other from afar since Junior High..." he explained quietly to the boy.

"Junior High? I understand that you heard Takigawa-senpai's side but how did you find out about Kimeru-senpai?" Aiba asked, staring at his two senpais that seemed like they were slow dancing due to the lighting.

"It was when I helped bring Takigawa-senpai and Kimeru-senpai to the clinic after they were involved in that morning fight..." Shirota explained, looking over at the two and grinning. "I'm sure they're happy they're finally able to express their feelings so openly now."

Aiba nodded. "Aa. It's nice to see Kimeru-senpai stop being such a jerk..." he said with a grin.

Shirota returned his attention to Aiba. "Ne, about those practices..." he said, scratching his cheek. "Is Thursday alright with you?" he inquired.

"Thursday sounds fine with me," Aiba answered. "So I'm assuming that we'd do it at your place?" he asked.

Shirota nodded. "Aa. Nobody will be home then, so we'll have the place to ourselves..." he explained.

Aiba nodded. "Then Thursday it is, then," he said with a smile.

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That evening, Shirota was at Takigawa's place as was their usual tradition. Takigawa had approached Shirota after their orientation in the auditorium today to ask the boy to teach him how to play the guitar for the musical. Agreeing, Shirota passed by his house and picked up both of his guitars before meeting up at Takigawa's place.

After dinner, Shirota and Takigawa were in the living room as the younger of the two began teaching him the basic notes and proper strumming.

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"You don't mind any of this?" Kimeru suddenly asked as he looked at Aiba who was typing away on his laptop.

"Mind what, senpai?" Aiba asked, not looking up from his work.

"That Shirota-kun will have to dance around stage with another guy?"

That statement made Aiba stop to look at the junior for a moment. "...No...Why would I mind?" Aiba asked.

Kimeru stared at him in disbelief. "W-What??!" Kimeru exclaimed.

Aiba shrugged. "I trust Shirota-kun to not do anything stupid," he said. "...and I suggest that you trust Takigawa-senpai as well, Kimeru-senpai."

Kimeru frowned. "I guess you're right," he answered.

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"It would be good if I could get the chords from Konishi-senpai so I know which ones you should be learning..." Shirota stated as they took a break from their guitar lessons.

Takigawa tossed a water bottle over to Shirota before opening his own and drinking its contents. "I'll ask him about it tomorrow," he reassured the boy, sitting back down on the couch.

"But I'm surprised you've already gotten how to do most of the notes on your first night, Eiji-kun!" Shirota said encouragingly.

The next day passed by quickly; the day followed its usual routine with the exception of the practices for the play after classes. By the end of the day, Moriyama had announced that the next practice would be on Monday due to the fact that the script wasn't ready yet.

----------

When Thursday came along, Aiba had already thought about what to do with Shirota after school while Kimeru had asked Takigawa the day before if he could stay the night, and fortunately he was allowed to do so.

After classes that day, Aiba found himself back at the Shirota residence. "Okay...so you place your hand here…" he instructed as he placed Shirota's right hand on his waist. "…and the other one you use to hold my other hand," he said as he placed his left hand on Shirota's shoulder, not realizing that they were really close to one another. "Okay. Let's start."

A blush came upon Shirota's cheeks. "I apologize in advance if I cause you some injuries, Aibacchin," Shirota told him.

"Don't worry about it," Aiba said with a smile. "Okay...let's go...just take a few steps towards me. Left foot first," he instructed as he took a step back with his right foot.

Shirota hesitatingly took a step forward with his left foot and proceeded to do so slowly with the others.

"You're going too slow Shirota-kun…" Aiba said. "Don't hesitate…" he said as he slowly turned them towards another direction. "Don't take a double step---" he was cut off when Shirota stepped and slid his foot forward when they turned, causing Aiba to lose his balance and fall to the floor, pulling Shirota down with him. "Itai..." he said before opening his eyes which he had instinctively closed during the fall. "Are you alright, Shirota---" he was cut off when he realized how close their faces were.

The fall was almost expected. Shirota instinctively brought both palms down firmly on the ground, as well as a knee as he gritted his teeth at the pain before he opened his eyes and paused at how close they were. A blush showed itself once again as Shirota hovered over Aiba for a lingering moment before he muttered, "Gomen..." and proceeded to push himself off the other boy.

Aiba pulled himself up. "N-No it's fine," he said as he looked at Shirota. "Let's try again, shall we?"

----------

After half an hour, Shirota had managed to get the basic steps.

"Okay, Shirota-kun...now we have to get you used to some steps that you're going to use for the musical," Aiba said. "First, the dip," he said as he guided Shirota's hand that was on his waist to the small of his back. "I'm going to lean back, Shirota-kun... Try to support my weight the best you can. You have to lean forward towards me but not too much so we won't fall."

Shirota nodded as Aiba leaned back as he did everything Aiba had instructed him to do and managed to hold the pose for at least 10 seconds before pulling Aiba back upright.

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Takigawa was in the middle of preparing dinner - some Chicken Cheese dish -; he had just put the pre-cooked dish into the oven before he emerged from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, Kimeru," he stated with a small smile.

Kimeru, who was playing with Pearl in the living room, nodded. "Hai~~" he answered.

"I wonder how Shirotan's doing with his Tango lessons..." Takigawa thought out loud.

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"Now for the more awkward positions," Aiba said, pausing a bit to think about the steps.

"A...Awkward?" Shirota repeated, frowning at the thought.

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Kimeru chuckled. "He might be blushing a lot right now," he mused.

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"Hai...moves like this," Aiba said as he moved them a few steps back before hooking one of his legs on Shirota's hip and placed both his hands behind the other boy's neck.

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"And I wouldn't be surprised if they end up kissing halfway through the lesson," Kimeru added as he looked at Takigawa.

Takigawa chuckled. "I wouldn't count on Shirota doing that just yet... Unless it was by accident," he stated, moving to Q's cage. "It's unsettling enough having Aiba teaching him how to dance..."

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A crimson blush came onto Shirota's face before a soft "I see" escaped his lips. 'Will you calm down Yuu? This is Aibacchin... Nothing to be bashful about...' he told himself firmly. 'He's teaching you to dance...'

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Kimeru laughed. "That kid sure does have some self control," he said playfully.

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Aiba smiled. 'Good…he's taking the positions quite well,' he thought as he demonstrated the other positions he had to do for the musical.

After one last run-through, Aiba decided that they were done for the day. "I think that's all we can tackle for--" Aiba was cut off when a clap of thunder was heard followed by the sudden pour of heavy rain. He jumped and subconsciously took hold of Shirota's arm in surprise.

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Takigawa nodded. "Either that or he'd shed off all of his pride and express his feelings. But he'd usually do that with his siblings. When he's around others, he manages to control himself efficiently. In Aiba's case, we have yet to find out," he explained before checking the time. "I believe our dinner's about done," he announced before strolling back into the kitchen as the downpour of rain outside began.

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Shirota blinked at the sight of Aiba latching onto his arm before his attention was brought to the storm outside the window, causing him to frown. "Well, this was unexpected..." he stated.

Aiba looked out the window. "At this rate I don't think I'll be able to go back to the dorms yet..." he said.

----------

"Aiba still has his defenses up around Shirota. It would be fun to see the both of them lose the barriers for once..." Kimeru said as he looked out the window "The weather report wasn't kidding when it said that the storm would arrive tonight..." he muttered. "Hey...wait a minute...storm...Aiba at Shirota-kun's place..." he grinned when he realized something. "This might be interesting…"

----------

"I guess you can spend the night here..." Shirota offered.

"...But I didn't bring any extra clothes..." Aiba said.

"We'll make do with mine, I guess..." Shirota stated, looking Aiba over. "Though they might be a little bigger than what you're used to..." he added before checking the time. "Ah, it's about time for dinner."

Aiba sighed. "I guess it will have to do for now," he answered.

----------

Takigawa pulled the baked dish out from the stove and brought it out to the dining table. "Let's eat while it's fresh from the oven, Kimeru," he called.

"Sure!" Kimeru said as he patted Pearl before getting up and heading to the dining room. "I think Aiba will be stuck with Shirota-kun tonight...and that Shirota-kun will discover one of Aiba's well guarded secrets," he said slyly.

"Well-guarded secrets?" Takigawa repeated as he helped himself to a serving of the dish.

Kimeru nodded. "Aiba doesn't like storms," he said. "One time there was a thunderstorm outside and he almost beheaded the panda plushie he had because of how tight he was holding it...and in the middle of the night he asked me if he could sleep next to me," he grinned at the memory. "Who would have thought that Aiba had that side of him?"

----------

Shirota nodded. "I've got to get dinner started..." He looked down at Aiba's grasp on his arm. "Can you let go of my arm so I can head to the kitchen?" he asked quietly.

Aiba blinked before looking at his hands. "G-Gomen!" he said as he immediately let go of Shirota's arm. "Can I help make dinner? It's the least I can do," he offered.

A smile came across Shirota's face. "Aa," he replied before heading into the kitchen before another clap of thunder resounded outside.

Aiba jumped when he heard the thunder. 'Not good....of all the days...and I don't have my panda!' he thought grimly as he followed Shirota to the kitchen.

----------

Takigawa sat back down. "I'm sure Shirotan will know just what to do if he figures it out," he replied, taking a bite of the food.

Kimeru chuckled. "I'm sure he will." he said before starting to eat.

----------

Shirota looked over his shoulder. "Aibacchin..." he began as he headed to the fridge. "You're not afraid of thunderstorms, are you?"

"Of course I'm not!" Aiba said loudly before another clap of thunder was heard, this time louder than the first two, causing him to run to Shirota and latch onto his arm again. "I am! I am!! I am!!"

Shirota smiled softly, pulling Aiba into a protective embrace, rubbing the boy's back, chuckling. "It's understandable. Don't worry... I'll stay with you..."

"H-Hai....Arigatou..." Aiba said quietly and he pulled away after a few minutes. "We should get started on dinner..." he said.

Shirota nodded as they headed off to make something together. After, Shirota had led them to his room, fixed up the futon and lent Aiba some of his clothes before they retired to bed.

The next day, Shirota woke up early, knowing that his brother Jun would be returning from his bandmate's place despite the weather. He had started on breakfast before Jun came in through the door, shedding off his raincoat and closing his umbrella.

"I'm back!" Jun called. He smirked when he saw Shirota in the kitchen and moved inside. "So classes are suspended 'cause of this thunderstorm. Did you get home okay yesterday, Yuu?" he asked.

Shirota nodded as he flipped the pancake. "I got home before it began," he replied.

----------

Aiba yawned; he looked around and noticed that he wasn't in the dorms. He panicked a bit before remembering that he slept over at Shirota's place. It was still raining heavily outside and it still looked like it was evening but the clock on Shirota's desk said otherwise.

Aiba stood up to fix the futon that he slept on. He looked in the mirror and saw that he wasn't wearing his clothes either. The shorts Shirota managed to find for him were about the right size but the shirt was way too big. He sighed before deciding to head downstairs to look for Shirota. He was still a bit sleepy when he reached the foot of the stairs. He looked around and froze when he saw Shirota Jun. 'Uh oh...and I'm wearing Shirota-kun's clothes....' he thought.

Jun nodded before turning to get his things settled before he paused, blinking at the sight of Aiba at the foot of the stairs. "Y...Yuu?"

Shirota turned from the stove as soon as he had turned off the fire. "Ha---" He paused when he saw Aiba. "Oh, I forgot to mention that Aiba-kun came over. He was helping me practice last night but he couldn't get back to his dorm so I offered that he stay the night," Shirota explained.

Aiba simply nodded and bowed politely.

Jun pointed to Aiba's clothes. "Those are yours, aren't they Yuu?" Jun inquired.

Shirota nodded. "With good reason that Aiba didn't foresee about staying over..." he replied. "Which reminds me…" He headed towards the stairs. "I can wash your clothes so you can wear them when you head back, Aibacchin..." he offered.

"Thanks Yuu-kun. I'd appreciate that," Aiba answered with a smile.

Shirota nodded. "I'd better get started on it, then," Shirota said. "You go on and have breakfast with my brother," he said as he headed upstairs.

Jun smiled as he brought the stack of pancakes Yuu had just finished making from the kitchen and set them down on the dining table. "Don't worry, I won't bite you," he reassured the younger boy as he took a seat at the table.

"Aa..." Aiba answered as he followed Jun to the dining room to join him for breakfast.

Jun watched Aiba sit down as he helped himself to a pancake and was spreading butter over it. "Ne, Aiba-kun..." he began. "Confirm something for me, would you?" he inquired off-handedly.

----------

Shirota headed to his bedroom and looked around before spotting where Aiba had neatly placed his clothes, which were resting atop his bag. The boy took them, returned downstairs and immediately went into the laundry room. It would take at least an hour or so for all of Aiba's clothes to be washed, dried and ironed, so he started with the whites and set them into the washing machine.

----------

Aiba blinked at Jun before nodding, "Sure, Jun-san..." he said.

"About you and Yuu..." Jun began, pouring syrup over his pancake now. "Are you..?"

Aiba eyes widened as he accidentally choked on what he was drinking -which was just water.

Jun grinned. "I figured as much," he replied as he cut a portion of his pancake and ate it.

Aiba just continued eating his breakfast quietly. '.....how did he know..?' he thought.

"There were a few signs that made it quite clear. Coming from the both of you," Jun answered, as if reading Aiba's mind.

"Signs?" Aiba asked, looking up from his food.

"Well, on Yuu's part it was more of what he shared with me. Like when he spent half of his week's allowance on your yakiniku dinner a few weeks ago..." Jun explained.

Aiba looked at him in surprise. "H-He spent half?!" he said. "...Now I know I should've paid him back..." he muttered.

Jun waved a hand in front of him. "Don't bother. Once he does that on a whim, whether conscious or not, it means he considers you a special person worth paying for," he explained.

Aiba sighed. "I'm sure I'll think of some way to pay him back..." he said as he continued eating.

"Good luck with that, then," Jun chimed as Yuu appeared, taking his seat at the table.

"I'm leaving the laundry alone for a bit... I'm hungry," he reported as he took a pancake and transferred it to his plate.

Aiba nodded and smiled at Shirota as soon as he joined them. After breakfast, Aiba offered to do the dishes.

Thanking Aiba for the offer, Shirota showed Jun out to the living room. "Don't tell me you--"

"Relax. I find it pretty obvious already, so there's no point you should be bashful about admitting it. Especially to me and Dai-ani," Jun interjected, patting his younger brother on the shoulder.

----------

Aiba sighed as he started washing the dishes. 'And here I thought that the class noticed because we were with them every day.... apparently not,' he thought.

----------

Shirota nodded wordlessly before attending to the laundry once more to finish up washing Aiba's uniform.

----------

After Aiba was done he looked around for Shirota and eventually found him in the laundry room. "You think it's going to rain all day?" he asked.

Shirota looked up from ironing Aiba's pants before returning his attention to his work before nodding. "Most probably… If the rain gets weaker, I can walk you back to your dorms," he offered as he set the iron aside and took up the pants. "These should be fine." He folded it and placed it on top of the pile of the other items of clothing that comprised Aiba's uniform before handing everything to him. "There you go," he said, smiling over to Aiba.

Aiba smiled. "Hey, thanks," he said. "I'll go change now and I'll probably return your clothes next week so that I can wash them."

Shirota nodded. "Sure," he replied as he fixed the things in the laundry room.

"I'm home!" Maria called from the front door.

Shirota paused, abandoning the iron and headed out to meet with his sister. "Why are you home this early?" he demanded.

Maria blinked, halfway from shedding off her raincoat. "What's wrong with me coming over at this time?" she asked defensively.

Aiba groaned inwardly. 'First his brother and now his sister...I better go change before someone else comes...' he thought as he tried to sneak upstairs.

Maria looked past Shirota before raising her eyebrows. "A-ra? Aiba-kun's here?" she inquired, spotting the boy.

Aiba froze, but instantly recovered to bow respectfully at Maria. "H-Hai...I was sort of trapped here due to the sudden rain last night." he explained.

"Ahh, I see..." Maria said, a small smile spreading on her face as she looked back to her brother. "Well, I came early because I received a text last night from tou-san."

Shirota's mouth gaped. "W...What?"

"He says he's coming over today to check up on things since he wasn't too busy with work," she explained.

Aiba looked at Shirota, then at Maria before looking back at Shirota again. "Er...maybe I should go and dress up so that I can go back to the dorms now..." he said.

"The rain won't let up," Maria informed him. "You'll have to wait until the afternoon, at least," she added before proceeding to take off her rain coat and hang it on the coat rack.

Shirota turned to Aiba and smiled. "Feel free to change, though," he told him.

Aiba went silent for a moment before looking at Shirota. "Are you sure it's okay for me to wait the rain out? I can seriously just go back to the dorms after I change," he said.

"That would ruin Yuu's efforts of washing your clothes for you," Jun offered, returning from upstairs before nodding to his older sister.

"Besides, it's still pouring outside," Maria added, gesturing to the window. "Stay for lunch, at least," she offered.

Shirota grinned. "You might even get to meet my father..." he said carefully.

Aiba thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I guess that's okay..." he said before looking at his clothes. "I'll go change, please excuse me," he said before heading upstairs to change.

The three siblings watched Aiba head off before Maria took her youngest brother by the arms. "Have the two of you--"

"Technically speaking..." Yuu interjected.

"They have!" Jun declared, walking up to them with a grin on his face.

"Oi, don't go to conclusions like--" Yuu began to argue.

"It's true, isn't it?" Jun cut him off effectively, leaving Yuu to blush, looking away from both his older siblings in the process.

----------

Aiba sighed as he finished putting on his school uniform. He decided to leave out the necktie and blazer before looking at himself in the mirror. "This would have to do…" he said before going back downstairs.

----------

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT WAS ALL WE DID!!" Yuu bellowed. "Now untie me from this chair!" he demanded. Jun had decided to tie Yuu down to a chair again, this time with a few sets of jump ropes - which were kept away in the closet for reasons even Yuu did not understand.

"Why don't I believe you?" Jun inquired, grinning as he messed up the boy's hair.

"I already told you... I'm part of the school play this quarter... And I'm supposed to know how to do the Tango and Aibacchin offered to teach me... Nothing out of line happened, if that's what you're curious about!" Yuu explained.

"Er....." Aiba said when he saw the scene.

Both Yuu and Jun turned to Aiba before the latter grinned, turning back to his brother. "Fine, I'll believe you this time," he stated, moving to undo the ropes tying Yuu to the chair. "Just because you keep insisting that you didn't do anything..."

Once Jun had undone the ropes, he gathered them up and returned them to their rightful place. Yuu stayed on the chair a few minutes longer, heaving a huge sigh before bringing a hand to his face.

Aiba walked up to Shirota. "Are you okay?" he asked him.

Shirota nodded. "Aa... Call that his way of interviewing me..." he explained quietly.

Aiba frowned. "Interviewing or interrogating?" he asked before sighing. "In any case...I heard some of the things he was asking...I wonder why he assumed that we did something.... inappropriate for the moment," he said.

Shirota chuckled. "Interrogating might be a better term with the style he uses..." he admitted. "But he's been under the assumption that something is going on between us... Which was why he knows about the dinner we had together..."

"And by saying 'something' what do you mean exactly?" Aiba asked.

Shirota got to his feet slowly. "I think that's obvious enough..." he muttered with a small smile before moving past Aiba and heading to the stairs. "I'll just go and change," he announced.

Aiba felt himself blush a bit upon realization. "Oh..." he said before Shirota went upstairs. He looked at the chair where Shirota was tied down to a few minutes ago before deciding to sit on the couch to just watch the rain pour.

----------

Shirota returned downstairs minutes later in casual attire that included jeans and a white sweater. He spotted Aiba and joined him on the couch. "Ne, did you want to do anything besides watching the rain?" he inquired with a grin.

Aiba looked at him and grinned back. "Of course I do. It's just that nothing has come to mind yet," he said as he faced Shirota.

"You could help me with the song," Shirota offered, pulling out the lyrics.

"That could work," Aiba said as he looked over. "So which one would you want to try? You have two songs that you have to take part in…" he said.

"The duet..." Shirota replied. "Better to know the song now before I mix it with the dance..." he explained.

Aiba nodded as he looked at the lyrics. "So I'll do Joanne and you do your part....." he said. "Don't laugh at me ok? I don't have a good singing voice."

Shirota chuckled. "I won't fault you for that, I swear," he promised.

"Then let's get started..." Aiba started before singing Joanne's part.

----------

After doing the song Aiba smiled, "Looks like you got it in one try," he said.

Shirota brought his fingers to his throat. "It pays to watch the original, then," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Aiba smiled. "I was able to watch the play with my sister before and I have to admit, it was a good play," he said. "Which reminds me....about Kimeru-senpai…he seems uncomfortable with the character list." he said.

"Is it because Eiji-kun's doing Roger?" Shirota inquired with a frown.

"Maybe....by the looks of it, Kimeru-senpai is jealous..." Aiba said.

"Ahh... That's probably because he's paired up with Yanagi," Shirota explained with a shrug before he turned to Aiba. "What about you..?"

Aiba looked at him and smiled. "I don't mind. It's just a play anyway," he said. "Unless....I have a reason to be jealous?" he asked.

Shirota shook his head. "No, you don't..." he replied with a contented smile.

"Yuu! Aiba-kun! Lunch is on the table!" Maria called.

Shirota got to his feet. "Well, that was productive. Maria-neesan just reminded me how hungry I am now," he said, grinning.

Aiba chuckled. "Glad to hear it," he said before they were called to lunch.

During lunch, the three Shirota siblings and Aiba were enjoying a meal prepared by Maria before the doorbell rang. Jun got up from the table, excusing himself before he went to answer it. Upon opening the door, he stepped back in surprise. "T...Tou-san?!" he exclaimed.

Shirota Mitsuo smiled as he closed his umbrella and stepped inside. "That's not a nice way to greet me, Jun. After all, I did tell Maria that I was coming today," he replied in mock hurt as he stepped past his second son, handing him the umbrella.

Both Yuu and Maria got to their feet and bowed, the latter of the two rising from the table and approaching their father. "I hope you didn't have any trouble, tou-san?" she inquired.

Aiba turned around and saw Shirota's father enter. He was a bit unsure of what to do so he decided to stand up as well when Yuu and Maria did.

Mitsuo shook his head. "The only problem I had was braving this storm," he commented as he turned to the table. "Ahh, I see we have a guest!"

Shirota gestured to Aiba. "This is my classmate Aiba Hiroki," he introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," Aiba said as he smiled and bowed politely.

"Yuu's classmate, huh?" Mitsuo repeated, nodding curtly to the boy.

"We've just started on lunch, tou-san. I'll go and get you a plate," Maria announced, rushing into the kitchen.

Shirota sat back down as Mitsuo joined them at the head of the table as Maria placed a plate and some utensils for him to use before re-taking her seat.

Aiba sat back down and turned his attention back to his food.

All was quiet during lunch. Nobody spoke much and before they knew it, Maria had offered to do the dishes and was clearing the table.

Mitsuo turned to Aiba and his youngest son. "So Yuu, what brings... Aiba, was it?" Shirota nodded. "What brings Aiba over?"

"He slept over last night..." Shirota explained. "He was helping me out with a few things for the school's upcoming musical..."

Aiba nodded to this and added. "Yuu-kun has been selected to play a lead role in the musical," he said.

Mitsuo smirked. "Good for you then, Yuu!" he complimented.

Shirota nodded. "Arigatou, tou-san..." he thanked, nodding to him as he rose to his feet. "If you would excuse us, there are a few things we need to rehearse upstairs," he announced.

Mitsuo nodded. "Of course, of course, go ahead."

Aiba bowed once more before heading upstairs with Shirota. He sighed before sitting on the bed. "What do you want to rehearse?" he asked.

Shirota locked the door behind him as they reached his room. "The dance," he answered.

"Okay," Aiba said as he got to his feet and approached Shirota. "Let's see if we can have one whole run-through of it," he said with a smile as he placed his hand on Shirota's shoulder, the other taking hold of the taller boy's hand.

"After things went last night, I'm pretty sure I get the steps now," Shirota said with a grin, getting into position.

Aiba nodded. "Let's start then, Shirota-kun..." he said as they started the routine.

To Shirota's surprise, he found himself able to keep up with Aiba throughout the routine. When everything was through Shirota was lying on the ground as he let out a sigh of relief, pumping a fist into the air. "Yosh!" he cheered.

Aiba clapped his hands as he smiled. "Good Job, Shirota-kun," he said.

Shirota pushed himself to sit up and gave Aiba a thumbs-up. "Thanks for all your hard work, Aibacchin," he said, grinning.

"You're a quick learner," Aiba said with a smile as he looked out the window. "Oh look…the rain is letting up. I think I can head back to the dorms now."

Shirota followed his gaze to the window and nodded before he got to his feet. "Alright, I'll walk you," Shirota said as he moved to the door and unlocked it. Pulling the door open, he jumped back in surprise to see his father there. "T...Tou-san! What are you--"

Shirota Mitsuo grinned and pulled his youngest son into a headlock, messing up the boy's hair. "You could've told me sooner that you were with him!" he said happily.

Shirota blinked. "E...Eh?!" he stuttered.

"Jun told me about it earlier when I asked about you," Mitsuo explained.

'Jun-ani...' Shirota thought darkly.

Aiba felt himself blush when he heard this, he quickly turned around to fuss with his bag so that none of the two Shirota's would see him flustered.

Mitsuo turned to Aiba and smiled before releasing his grip on his son. "I apologize for this sudden outburst, Aiba-kun," he said, nodding to him. "I just don't come home to this kind of news very often."

"I would have told you eventually..." Shirota commented.

Aiba turned around and smiled nervously. "Aa...it's alright, Shirota-san…" he said.

Mitsuo smirked before his phone rang. "Excuse me..." He pulled out his phone and read the text before groaning, stepping back out into the hall.

Shirota sighed. "I knew I should've told Jun-ani to keep his mouth shut... Not that he'd listen to me, though..." he said hopelessly.

Aiba chuckled as he took his bag and patted Shirota on the shoulder. "I'm a bit surprised that your family is taking this well...then again, it's a good thing, ne?" he said.

Shirota nodded. "Aa. Shall we go?" he offered, moving out of the room, bowing to his father as they passed before heading downstairs.

As soon as they reached the door, Aiba pulled out his umbrella. "Don't bother yourself with going outside Shirota-kun," he said with a smile before opening the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then.." he said before looking around once; he saw that no one was there so he kissed Shirota on the cheek before hurriedly walking outside. "Ja ne!" he called out as he opened his umbrella and went his way.

Shirota blinked; Aiba's kiss stunned him into shocked silence until Aiba walked out into the rain before he regained himself, shaking his head and called out. "IT'S SATURDAY TOMORROW!!" he reminded the boy.

Aiba frowned. "BAKA! YOU'RE HELPING ME MOVE BACK IN!!" he yelled over his shoulder before speeding up a bit. 'Stupid idiot....' he thought with a frown; then he remembered what he did a few moments ago that might have caused the boy to space out. Aiba smirked.

Shirota blushed before smacking himself lightly on the forehead. 'That's right... I can't believe I forgot that so easily...' he scolded himself.

Aiba paused a bit to catch his breath as he turned around a corner. "Oi!! Aiba!!" he heard someone call out. He looked around and saw Kimeru walking towards him.

"Heading back to the dorms?" the junior asked.

Aiba nodded. "Hai. And you?" Kimeru nodded as well. "Let's go then!"

Kimeru blinked. 'Is it me...or is he a bit...too happy,' he thought.

Shirota closed the door behind him before the phone rang. "I'll get it!" he announced to the house as he took the phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Is Aiba still there?" Takigawa inquired.

"Ah, Eiji-kun!" Shirota replied cheerfully. "No, he just left. Why?"

"No reason. Kimeru just left here himself. At least they can accompany each other back to the dorms without trouble," Takigawa explained.

"I see..."

----------

As soon as Aiba got back to the dorms, he lied back on his bed and took the panda plushie that was on it.

"Too bad that you didn't bring it with you yesterday," Kimeru teased.

"That's okay...Shirota-kun was there anyway," Aiba answered.

Kimeru stared at him. "Alright...who are you and what did you do to Aiba?" he asked.

Aiba rolled his eyes. "Whatever senpai..."

----------

"I've got a serious question to ask you, Shirotan," Takigawa continued.

"What?"

"Has anything more than a hug been exchanged between you and Aiba?" Shirota blushed for five seconds before Takigawa laughed. "I guess silence means yes?"

----------

"Oi, Aiba...you seem happy," Kimeru said.

"Way to point out the obvious, senpai," Aiba said as he turned his back on Kimeru.

Kimeru threw a pillow at him. "Spill! What happened between you and Shirota at his place?" he asked.

Aiba glanced at him. "Nothing...I just taught him how to tango," he answered.

"That's all?" Kimeru asked. "How about before you left?"

Aiba shrugged. "I kissed him..."

"I KNEW--"

"…on the cheek."

"WHAT?!"

The next day, Shirota headed out after breakfast and made his way to the dorms to meet up with Aiba. Once he climbed the five flights of stairs, he knocked on the door. "AIBACCHIN!" he called.

Kimeru pulled open the door in annoyance. "Quiet! Your voice is loud enough to wake the dead!!" he said in irritation.

"I.e. You, Kimeru-senpai," Aiba said as Kimeru got out of the way. "Thanks for coming early, Shirota-kun," he said with a smile.

Shirota nodded. "No problem. I had to sneak out before my dad could ask any questions about it, though," he said, scratching his cheek.

"Sou ka..." Aiba said as he took one of the two boxes near the door. "Here Shirota-kun...you can carry this," he said as he took another another box after taking his back pack. "There we go...I'll see you then, Kimeru-senpai," Aiba said with a slight bow.

Kimeru yawned before looking at him. "Sure whatever...though don't count on the fact that since we don't stay in one room anymore I'll stop annoying you," he said.

Aiba grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it, senpai...besides, you'll be moving out in a few days as well, right?"

Kimeru smiled. "Aa…"

Shirota furrowed his brows as he took the box and looked between Kimeru and Aiba. "Eh?"

"Remember back in the auditorium?" Aiba asked Shirota. "Kimeru-senpai will be staying with Takigawa-senpai from now on and it would seem that they have agreed on starting next week," he explained.

"Ah, that's right..." Shirota said before pausing. "But that means..." He frowned, deciding to head to the stairs in awkward silence.

"I'll see you around then, senpai," Aiba said as he caught up with Shirota.

Kimeru shook his head before closing the door once Aiba stepped out.

Aiba walked beside Shirota and looked at him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Shirota shook his head. "It's nothing," he reassured him.

Aiba frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Shirota nodded again. "Aa. I can always talk to Eiji-kun about it, anyway... About that..." he said off-handedly.

"Okay then....." Aiba said, not forcing the issue. "Hinako-neesan said that mother's preparing something for you at home…" he said.

Shirota chuckled. "Your mother seems to have found my weakness," he mused.

Aiba grinned. "Mother's good with people because of that....look how she manages to manipulate my father."

Shirota laughed. "I've noticed," he pointed out.

Aiba smiled as they headed to his place.

----------

Upon arrival, Hinako immediately ushered them inside. "We were waiting for you!" she said happily.

Shirota smiled to himself as he entered the house. He bowed politely as he spotted the parents and looked over to Aiba. "Ne, where do you want me to put this, Aibacchin?" he inquired.

"Let's put it in my room," Aiba said with a nod. "We'll just be upstairs!" he told his parents as he led Shirota to his room. He managed to open the door and moved aside to let Shirota in. "Come on in."

Shirota entered the room and set the box down by the cabinet before looking around. "Heh... Your room's pretty big..." he pointed out.

Aiba closed the door behind him and placed the box, along with his backpack beside the bed. "If you think this is big, you should see my sister's room," he said as he sat on the bed. "I've missed this," he said before lying down and taking one of his pillows. "Wanna join me here? It's soft," he said, grinning like a child.

Shirota chuckled, nodding as he approached the bed. "You take after your mother bribing me with these sorts of things," Shirota accused.

Aiba smirked. "Something bad about that?" he teased as he threw a pillow at Shirota.

Shirota caught the pillow and shook his head. "Not really."

Aiba grinned before moving to a sitting position on the bed. "Let's see...knowing my mother, she'll call us down for something in about 15 minutes or so..." he said. "So what do you want to do until then?"

"That's difficult to answer since we're in your house, Aibacchin..." Shirota admitted.

"We could play some games on my computer," Aiba said as he pointed at his desktop. "Or anything that might catch your interest in my room."

Shirota looked around. "A-re?" he slowly got to his feet and approached Aiba's desk.

"Ever heard of a magic eight ball?" Aiba asked as he went over his desk and picked up something pink and round.

Shirota nodded. "Never really used it before, though..." he said.

"Nee-san gave this to me before school started. It's called a date ball," he said. "She seems to think of it as a practical joke," he added as he turned the ball over. "You're supposed to ask a question concerning relationships and then it answers." He looked at the ball and shook it. "For example...will Takigawa-senpai and Kimeru-senpai eventually end up together after they graduate?" he asked the ball before turning it so that the little transparent part was facing upwards.

What appeared on the small window was a triangular object that had the words "Absolutely!" on it with a little heart at the bottom.

"You try," Aiba said as he handed Shirota the pink object.

Shirota took the ball and shook it. "Will Moriyama-senpai end up with someone in the future?" he inquired randomly before watching the triangular object flash "It's looking good" with a little heart at the bottom. He chuckled to himself.

Aiba grinned. "Is it Yanagi-kun?" he asked as he took the ball and shook it. "Why not?" Aiba read out loud as he smirked.

Shirota glanced over to Aiba. "You picked that up or was that just a guess?" he inquired sheepishly.

"I knew the looks that they were giving each other during the practices," Aiba said with a smile. "It was pretty clear that they were interested in one another in my perspective of things."

"So I wasn't the only one who noticed," Shirota said, grinning.

Aiba nodded. "That's why Takigawa-senpai should be ready when Moriyama-senpai decides to do something about it," he said with a grin. "Let's see...." he said as he looked around. "We still have about 10 minutes..." he said.

"I'm sure Eiji-kun's noticed it by now. He spends a lot more time with Moriyama-senpai than I do, anyway," Shirota explained before remembering the boxes. "So do you need help unpacking?" he suggested.

Aiba thought for a moment. "Nah, I can take care of those later." '...after all I can't let you find out that almost half of those stuff is connected to you,' he added in his mind.

Shirota nodded. "Okay..." he said before turning to the door.

"Hiro~~ mother wants you and Shirota-kun to come down for a while~" Hinako said from outside.

Aiba blinked. "That was...against my calculations, but oh well."

Shirota nodded to himself before turning to Aiba. "Looks like you were wrong," he pointed out with a grin.

"I guess so..." Aiba said as he opened the door, only to yelp in surprise as his sister came in and locked the door behind her.

"So....?" she asked the two.

Hiroki took a few steps back. "So...what?!" he asked.

"Are the two of you together?" she asked with a grin as Hiroki turned beet red.

Shirota nodded. "Aa," he replied bluntly.

"I knew it!! I'm going to go and tell mom~" Hinako said before going out, leaving Aiba to stand in shock.

"What did-- OI! NEE-SAN!! MATTE!!" he yelled as he ran out the door to stop his sister.

Shirota chuckled, following after the siblings as he closed the door to Aiba's room.

Hiroki chased his sister to the gardens while his mother came out from the kitchen. "Congratulations Shirota-kun," she said as soon as she saw Shirota. "Why don't you sit down while those two have a bonding moment?"

"WE'RE NOT BONDING!" Hiroki yelled as he passed by the window.

Shirota nodded. "Aa. Arigatou," he replied politely, bowing before he took a seat at one of the garden chairs.

After a while, Hiroki stopped chasing his sister and went to sit on the chair beside Shirota, "Sorry about that...nee-san just gets into my nerves sometimes..." he said.

"Not my fault that you are easily annoyed, little brother," Hinako said with a smile.

"Enough you two...we have a guest," Mikoto reminded them.

"Hai..." they both answered.

"Here, why don't you have something to eat while you tell us the story of how you managed to convince our Hiroki to see things in your perspective?" Mikoto said as he placed a plate full of brownies on one of the tables.

Shirota's eyes lit up at the sight of the brownies and took one. "Arigatou! Itadakimasu!" he said, taking a bite out of the brownie, chewing it fondly.

Mikoto smiled as Shirota ate some of her handmade brownies.

"So what happened?" Hinako asked.

Hiroki sighed before telling them the story.

"Aww...that's so sweet, Shirota-kun!" Hinako said as soon as Hiroki told them about that little encounter at the rooftop.

Hiroki smiled at Shirota fondly. "Aa...that was the moment he managed to change my mind," he said.

Shirota smiled lightly. "I'm glad you got to talk to your father about that, Aibacchin..." he said as he took another brownie.

"That's because I knew you would be behind me all the way," Aiba said with a smile.

Hinako chuckled. "But still, Shirota-kun... Thank you for confronting Hiroki like that. If you didn't do it then he may still be at the dorms right now."

"He might've still been afraid to show himself and be the serious type he's made himself to be in school..." Shirota said, shuddering before he smirked over to Hiroki.

"An image which I would still have to maintain," Hiroki said as he took a bite off a brownie.

Shirota slapped the boy on the arm. "No you don't!" he complained.

Hiroki looked at him. "I was just kidding!" he said.

Hinako chuckled as she patted his brother on the head. "You two are sure are cute," she said before standing up. "I'll just be upstairs. I have a paper to finish," she told them.

"Hai nee-san…"

Shirota nodded to Hinako before reaching out for a brownie before he found the plate to be empty as he looked at it. "Ahh! You got the last brownie!" Shirota accused, glaring over to Hiroki darkly.

"Don't worry, Shirota-kun. We have a fresh baked chocolate cake in the fridge since I noticed that you liked the one before," Mikoto said as she stood. "I'll go bring some."

Hiroki stared at his mother as she left before turning his gaze to Shirota. "My mother...seems to enjoy spoiling you…" he said.

"I might not be able to leave at the rate this is going," Shirota whispered to Hiroki as the cake was brought out, causing the boy to grin. "Lucky~" he said.

Mikoto smiled. "At least you have something rather than Hiroki as an incentive to come here, right Shirota-kun?" she said as she handed Shirota a slice of the cake.

----------

After a while, the sun had started to set. The two were back in Hiroki's room, lying down on the bed to pass the time.

Shirota checked his watch before sitting up. "Yabe!!" he exclaimed, getting to his feet. "Gomen Aibacchin, but I have to be heading back home," he said hastily.

Aiba looked at the clock and saw up as well, "Alright...come on, I'll walk with you down the street," he said with a smile before leading him downstairs where his mother and sister said their goodbyes to Shirota.

"It's fine, I can make it on my own," Shirota said as they reached the gate, holding Aiba back, nodding over to him. "Enjoy your time with your family..." he added, smiling softly.

Aiba smiled back. "I'll see you on Monday, then..." he said. "...and Shirota-kun....thanks."

Shirota nodded, hesitating for a moment and leaned forward, kissing Aiba on the lips for what seemed like three seconds before he quickly pulled away. He bowed and headed off. "Ja~"

Aiba stood there stunned for a few seconds after Shirota had left, his hand moving up to touch his lips. 'F...First Kiss....' was all his mind managed to process before stepping back to close the door. He marched up the stairs like a zombie and went straight to his room, causing his mother and father, who were at the den, to look at one another before shrugging.

----------

Shirota jogged on his way back to his house. 'Did I really..?' he asked himself, shaking his head furiously. 'I did... And I don't regret it!' he told himself firmly before grinning, sprinting off the rest of the way. By the time he got back to his house, his father, he found out, was called away back to work while his mother, Rina and Jun were there for dinner joining him and Maria.

----------

"..AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU WERE THE ONE I DECIDED TO CALL ABOUT IT!!" Aiba said into the speaker.

Kimeru was holding his phone an arm's length away from his ear. "That's what I wanted to know..." he muttered before placing the phone near his ear. "Listen, you have to calm down...you're treating this like he passed on some sort of disease on you..." he said.

"I am calm!!" Aiba insisted, his voice a lot less loud than before.

Kimeru sighed. "Look, if you really want to know what happens next you have to wait until Monday. Now leave me alone," he said before ending the call.

----------

Shirota finished any of his unfinished assignments after dinner in his room before leaning back, turning around in his swivel chair before he went to his bed and lied down, exhausted. "What to do..." he muttered onto the blanket.

Monday came along and despite the fact that he lived a little farther, Aiba still managed to get to school in time.

----------

Fifth period, the class before lunch. It was English for section one of the first years, the class that Ueshima-sensei taught.

Aiba was doodling in his notebook as he listened to Ueshima-sensei lecture on about Roman Mythologies. He then noticed a sudden movement by the edge of his desk and he froze. 'Please don't let it be.....' he thought as he looked at it.

A medium-sized spider crawled up to his notebook.

Aiba's eyes went wide. "Ahh!" He jumped out of his seat and instinctively went behind Shirota.

Ueshima-sensei paused in mid-lecture at the sudden scream from the back of the classroom, all eyes averting to Aiba, who had jumped out of his seat. "What's wrong, Aiba?" he called from the front of the class.

Shirota looked over his shoulder to the boy before his eyes returned to the desk and pointed at the insect on Aiba's notebook. "You're afraid of spiders?" he inquired.

Aiba looked at the creature on his notebook before nodding slowly. "Hated them and had been afraid of them since I was 5," he said quickly.

"Well, I learned something new today..." Shirota said brightly before standing, moving to the cabinet and pulled out an empty jar they normally used for art class and unscrewed the cap, heading back to Aiba's desk and forced the jar over the spider, sliding it to the edge and quickly closed the jar once more. "There we go, problem solved," he announced, bowing to Ueshima-sensei before leaving the room momentarily to bring the spider to a different location.

Aiba sighed in relief once Shirota went out with the spider; that was when he noticed that everyone was looking at him. "A-no...gomen!" he said with a bow before returning to his seat.

Ueshima grinned. "It's fine, it's fine. Saa, back to the lesson~" he said, averting his gaze to the book in his hand as Shirota returned to the room and took his seat.

----------

After classes, it was once again time for practices, the scripts were handed out to the characters and even Aiba managed to get a copy for reference use on his article. He was reading the script when something Shiozawa was saying to Takumi and Kazuki caught his attention.

"Wait! You can't do it like that!" Shiozawa said as he walked over to the two. "You're supposed to look at each other during this instrumental and there should be some sort of chemistry!" he explained.

"How do we do that?" Kazuki asked getting annoyed at the 6th interruption for that certain scene.

Shiozawa walked over to the table where Takumi was. "You should look at him with intensity not like he just walked in the room. And you!" he said as he went over to Kazuki. "You don't just walk inside the room like you're walking in the park…add something there that would cause some chemistry!"

Kazuki frowned. "You're confusing me..." he said.

Shiozawa thought for a moment. "We need someone to show you...some people who have natural chemistry...aha! Shirota-kun! Aiba-kun! Would you two please come here for a second and show these two how it's done?"

"What?!" Aiba exclaimed as he stared at Shiozawa.

Shirota, who was practicing a song on his own, paused as he turned to Shiozawa, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

Shiozawa grinned. "I want you two to show Kazuki and Takumi-senpai how this scene would be done in your perspective."

Aiba frowned. "You're telling us to show these two drama club members how to do a proper scene?" he asked.

"Exactly," Shiozawa replied.

Shirota glanced over to Aiba, lowering his lyrics. "You can't be serious..." he said, looking back over to Shiozawa.

Shiozawa smirked. "I'm afraid I am...now go," he said as he nodded at Aiba who looked at Shirota as if asking him what to do.

Shirota heaved a deep sigh and set his lyrics down and approached the stage, nodding over to Aiba. 'The sooner we get this over with, the better...' he thought to himself.

Aiba frowned as he went up on stage. "I'm not part of the cast...." he muttered darkly.

Yagami watched from the sidelines. "Shiozawa-kun is doing this on purpose, isn't he?" he asked Moriyama.

Moriyama chuckled. "Maybe," he replied bluntly.

Takigawa and Yanagi, who were off-stage practicing their duet, paused when Shirota and Aiba were called on-stage. Takigawa stepped out onto the wing of the stage and raised an eyebrow. 'Is it just me, or...'

Shirota patted Aiba on the shoulder. "Don't mind it. As long as we get things over with here, you can get back to your work, na?" he said before turning to Shiozawa. "Now what did you want us to do exactly?"

"Just the part where Maureen and Joanne are inside the billiards room," Shizoawa said as he led Aiba to a space near the billiards table and then placed Shirota by the door.

"Aiba-kun, you're Maureen for a while and Shirota-kun, Joanne."

"I have to jump on the billiards table?!" Aiba exclaimed.

Shiozawa nodded. "Hai...now you better watch closely, Takumi-senpai, Kazuki-kun," he said to the two who were smirking just behind them. "Music!"

After Shirota and Aiba did the scene, the music ended as Shirota heaved a huge sigh, bending over. "Is that enough for you, Shiozawa-kun?" he inquired, looking over to him.

Shiozawa nodded. "Better than expected," he said with a thumbs-up. "Did you two get that?" he asked Kazuki and Takumi who nodded, smirk still in place.

"I never knew that you could move like that, Aiba-kun," Kazuki said as he patted Aiba on the shoulder. Aiba frowned before going back to his seat.

Shirota nodded wordlessly before getting off-stage and went to retrieve his lyrics.

----------

Takigawa and Yanagi looked at each other, smirking.

"Takigawa-senpai, they're--"

Takigawa nodded. "Aa. They are."

----------

After a while Moriyama caught the attention of the others. "For the last part of today's practice I would like to see the progress of the characters and their songs," he said.

"First up, let's see Tango Maureen!"

Aiba smiled at Shirota and gave him the thumbs-up sign. "Gambatte~" he said.

Shirota approached the stage and returned the gesture to Aiba before he joined Kazuki on stage.

"I don't want to get my foot stepped on, Shirota-kun," Kazuki warned as he went to take his place on one side of the stage.

Shirota nodded. "Don't worry. I can assure you it won't happen," Shirota replied, heading to the other side.

"Start!" Moriyama called.

"Looks like you taught him well, Aiba-kun," Moriyama said as he took a seat beside Aiba to watch.

Aiba shrugged. "He's a fast learner so it was easy."

Moriyama grinned as the dance progressed to the more awkward movements. "You even taught him that move?" he asked and Aiba nodded.

When the song ended, Kazuki nodded curtly to Shirota. "Not bad for a first-timer," he complimented before heading off-stage.

Shirota sighed with relief as he looked over to Aiba and grinned at him before getting down from the stage.

"Nice job. You looked great up there," Aiba said with a smile.

Moriyama stood up and approached Toru who announced the next pair. "Next is Light my Candle," he announced.

Kimeru, who was talking with the rest of the band heard this and turned his gaze sharply towards Yanagi.

Takigawa patted Yanagi on the shoulder as they took center stage. "Remember what I told you earlier, Yanagi-kun?" he inquired.

Yanagi nodded. "Aa. I'll try, but I won't guarantee I won't be bothered..." he replied.

Toru brought a hand up. "Start!"

As the song started Aiba felt a strange aura fill the auditorium. "That....that's coming from Kimeru-senpai, isn't it?" he asked as he looked at the band vocalist near the side of the stage.

Shirota moved to Kimeru and put a hand on the junior's shoulder. "Mah, there's nothing to get jealous over," he said quietly as the song progressed.

"Who told you I'm jealous? I'm not jealous…" Kimeru hissed as he looked at Yanagi moving around the stage.

Shirota chuckled. "Frankly, there's no need to be jealous. You know Ei--Takigawa-senpai already declared his feelings for you, and he wouldn't throw that away," he explained. "Besides... Yanagi-kun may very well have someone special as well. Both of them are treating this as just a musical where they ended up being partnered up. That's all."

Kimeru took a deep breath and counted to ten before exhaling. "You're right..." he told Shirota. "I'll try to calm down," he said slowly, turning his gaze away from the two on the stage.

After the song, Moriyama announced their schedule for the coming weeks before dismissing them.

Shirota continued practicing the guitar with Takigawa until the latter was able to play the song on his own. It didn't take long before the musical reached the dress rehearsal a few days before the actual presentation. The group gathered in the auditorium as Moriyama took center stage.

"Okay, we're only two days away from actual show time. This dress rehearsal is a dry-run of the musical from start to finish. Any mistakes can be overlooked for now, but I urge you all to do your best and act as though this is the real thing!" he began.

"Aiba-kun, please don't forget to take pictures," Yagami instructed as he patted Aiba on the shoulder.

"Hai senpai," Aiba answered as he adjusted the lens of the camera.

Kimeru nodded to the band. "All we have to do today is watch. The recorded version of the songs is already at the sound booth," he said.

Nagayan grinned. "But in case something goes wrong, we better be ready, right?"

"Aa," Kimeru answered.

"Alright, let's get started!" Moriyama announced; heading off-stage as the dress rehearsal began.

Aiba took pictures every now and then as the cast and crew moved around. He even managed to take a picture of the band club watching. After the dress rehearsal, Aiba headed to the backstage to look for Shirota. "Shirota-kun~" he called out from the door.

----------

Kimeru, in the meantime, was talking to Moriyama about something on stage as he waited for Takigawa.

----------

Shirota popped his head out from the dressing room with his prop glasses still on. "Give me a second, Aibacchin. I need to change back to my uniform," he informed him.

"Okay, I'll just wait for you here..." Aiba said as he closed the door.

----------

"Don't worry, Moriyama-senpai...everything is going to be fine...besides...you've been waiting to ask him out for a while, haven't you?" Kimeru asked slyly.

Takigawa and Yanagi came out onstage talking about their duet before they saw Kimeru and Moriyama. The freshman had a particular blush on his cheeks as Takigawa smiled, patting him on the shoulder before nodding to Kimeru. "Shall we head off, Kimeru?" he inquired.

Kimeru patted Moriyama on the back. "Good luck senpai~" he said before running up to Takigawa and Yanagi. "Oi, Yanagi-kun... Moriyama-senpai wants to talk to you about something," he said with a grin.

----------

Shirota emerged from the dressing room, flashing a thumbs-up. "Yosh! Change complete!" he proclaimed, the glasses still on.

Aiba chuckled. "Not really. You're still Mark," he said as he pointed at the glasses.

Shirota blinked. "AHHH!" He pulled off the glasses and hastily took out the case and kept it in his back pocket. "There!"

Aiba grinned. "Now that's my Shirota-kun," he said.

----------

Takigawa nodded to his senpai before leaving the two alone and heading off with

Kimeru. "Saa, what should we be having for dinner?" he inquired.

"Don't really know...wanna try eating out for once?" Kimeru asked him as they left the auditorium.

Takigawa contemplated about it for a moment before nodding. "I don't mind. I'm fresh out of ideas for tonight, anyway," he admitted.

"So where do you want to go?" Kimeru asked.

----------

Shirota grabbed Aiba by the hand and whizzed down the aisle of the auditorium and out. "Let's celebrate and have dinner somewhere!" he said brightly.

"Sounds good to me," Aiba said with a smile.

"I was thinking--"

"Somewhere with--" Takigawa began.

Both Takigawa and Shirota paused before they noticed each other's presence; Takigawa and Kimeru were just a little ahead of Shirota and Aiba as they were leaving the school grounds.

"Are you two going out for dinner?" they asked each other.

"Ko-ra, I asked you first!" Shirota complained.

"No you didn't!" Takigawa fired back.

Aiba and Kimeru looked at one another and shrugged. "So Aiba?" Kimeru started.

Aiba thought for a moment. "Italian?" he suggested.

Shirota grinned, turning to Aiba. "I second the motion!" he said brightly.

Takigawa stumbled before shrugging. "We're splitting the bill on this one, then," he announced, looking over to Shirota. "Somebody here might end up ordering more than anybody..."

Shirota pouted and turned to Takigawa. "I can budget my allowance for this, thank you very much!" he said defensively.

"I can shoulder his part of the bill," Aiba offered as he raised his hand.

Shirota turned to Aiba. "Ehh? You don't have to, Aibacchin. I don't plan on spending much tonight..." he said hastily.

Takigawa started walking again. "As long as the bill is paid, there aren't any problems," he said. "Ikuyo, Kimeru~"

"I'm paying your part of the bill," Aiba said firmly as he looked at Shirota.

Kimeru chuckled. "Recently got your allowance, have you?" he teased.

Shirota pouted but decided not to argue any further.

----------

As soon as they reached the restaurant and seated, Aiba looked at his menu. "What do you want, Shirota-kun?" he asked.

Shirota looked at the menu in high regard. "Some pasta would be nice," he stated, pointing to the particular dish.

Takigawa, in the meantime, was checking out the salads and pizza. "Anything interesting caught your eye, Kimeru?" he inquired.

Kimeru looked at the menu. "I...can't...decide..." he said. "You pick for me," he answered.

Aiba put down his menu and looked at the three. "I know what I'm ordering..." he said.

"And that would be?" Shirota inquired as Takigawa placed a few orders to their waiter.

"Just a simple, carbonara..." Aiba answered as he placed his order. "My parents are coming for the play…" Aiba added randomly.

Shirota placed his order of chicken salad and a small pizza before the waiter left. "Eh? Your parents?" Shirota repeated.

"Aa....for some reason they wanted to watch you," Aiba said with a shrug.

Shirota blinked before pulling out the prop glasses and putting them on. "I would understand your mother coming to watch, but your father?" he inquired, using a different voice that he'd be using for Mark.

"My mother convinced him to come along," Aiba reasoned.

"Well, that answers a lot..." Shirota replied coolly.

Takigawa smiled. "Are any of your siblings coming to watch, Shirotan?" he inquired.

Shirota pulled off his prop glasses. "My mom, Maria-nesan, Rina and Jun-ani, for sure," he replied.

Kimeru then looked at Takigawa after he had placed his order. "How about you, Takigawa? Are your parents coming?" he asked.

Takigawa shook his head. "They're still abroad. Last I heard from them, they were in France," he explained. "It's very rare for them to be coming home to visit..."

Kimeru thought for a moment before smiling. "Don't worry then~ Aiba and I will still be watching, right?" he said as he winked at the younger boy.

Aiba blinked. "Of course I'm watching...I need to cover it for the paper…" he said.

"So does that mean that if you're not going to cover it you're not going to watch?" Kimeru asked slyly.

Aiba glared at him. "Of course not! I'll still be watching because of Shirota-kun..." he said. "...and Takigawa-senpai," he added quickly when he felt that certain aura from Kimeru that quickly disappeared.

Takigawa and Shirota smiled at one another.

"I've only met Eiji-kun's parents at least twice when we were younger... They told me to keep him company whenever I could, which started that whole staying over every Tuesday and Thursday ritual," Shirota explained.

"I apologize if that ritual has to be broken, Shirotan..." Takigawa said, nodding to the younger boy.

Shirota waved a hand in front of him. "I don't mind."

Kimeru looked at Shirota and looked away for a minute. "That...would be my fault..." he said. "Gomen Shirota-kun," he said.

Shirota grinned. "Really, it's alright, Kimeru-senpai," he reassured the junior.

Aiba blinked at the way Kimeru was acting. "Senpai...?" he asked before spotting something unusual. "Isn't that Moriyama-senpai and Yanagi-kun?!" he said as he pointed at a table not far from them.

Shirota turned to Aiba. "Eh? Moriyama-senpai and Yanagi-kun?" he repeated, following Aiba's finger to the table.

Takigawa smirked. "Looks like they finally broke the ice..." he muttered.

Aiba grinned. "I knew it....it was impossible not to figure it out," he said with a nod.

Kimeru looked over his shoulder. "Looks like senpai listened to what I said after all," he said before their orders arrived.

"Eh, you talked with Moriyama-senpai?" Shirota inquired as he took a fork to indulge in his salad.

Kimeru nodded. "He asked me my opinion about asking someone out for a first date. It wasn't really hard to figure out who he was planning to ask if you pay attention to details," he explained.

Takigawa nodded in silence as he partook of his own salad.

"I'm surprised that they only started now though..." Aiba said with a shrug as he started on his own food.

"You should know from experience that things like these need time to blossom," Shirota explained eagerly.

Aiba smiled and nodded. "That's true..." he said in agreement.

----------

The rest of the meal was spent eating their chosen dishes - and at one point, Shirota and Takigawa fighting over the piece of pizza - before they were all stuffed.

"That was a satisfactory meal," Takigawa said in approval.

Aiba, who had excused himself a while ago to go to the bathroom, came back to join them. "I already paid the bill," he informed them.

"How much do we owe you?" Kimeru asked.

"Nothing..." Aiba answered.

"Aiba...."

"Senpai..." The two engaged in a glaring war before Aiba sighed. "Fine..." he said as he pulled out the receipt from his pocket to show the two juniors the amount of the bill.

Takigawa pulled out his wallet after mentally adding up the dishes he had ordered and handed out the amount to Aiba. "Here."

"You're not doing this just because I paid for dinner before, are you," Shirota inquired, looking over to Aiba.

"Maybe....maybe not…" Aiba said with a smirk.

Kimeru laughed when he heard this. "Sneaky kid..." he managed to say.

Takigawa stood. "It's about time we headed home, I believe?" he announced, grabbing his bag.

"Hai~ we still have classes half the day tomorrow, after all," Kimeru said.

"Then half the day we'd be in the auditorium making the final preparations for the play on Saturday," Aiba added.

"At least we don't have to worry about varsity practice until after this... Ne, Eiji-kun?" Shirota inquired as they left the restaurant.

Takigawa nodded.

----------

Aiba bowed to them as they reached an intersection where he would have to go the other way, "I'll see you tomorrow then, Takigawa-senpai, Kimeru-senpai," he said with a bow. "And don't forget about that test tomorrow, Shirota-kun," he added before kissing Shirota on the cheek. "Ja ne~" he called out as he crossed the street and turned around a corner.

Takigawa looked over to Shirota and smiled. "You've really changed him, Shirotan," he complimented.

Kimeru was still a bit shocked from what he witnessed. He shook his head to clear his mind. "Shirota-kun...you are one amazing kid..." he said as he patted Shirota on the shoulder.

"I don't think it's something to be praised for..." Shirota said as they headed in the direction of their houses.

"Why not? We're seeing a different side of Aiba now ever since you two got together," Takigawa argued.

"Aa...when he was at the dorms it's nothing but books, angst, his laptop, angst, academics, angst and did I mention angst?" Kimeru listed. "...Then you came and it became: books, Shirota, laptop, Shirota, academics, Shirota and......oh yeah~ Shirota," he said with a grin.

A slight blush came to Shirota's cheeks.

"You never did tell me how you managed it, Shirotan..." Takigawa said. "The next thing we knew, the two of you were..."

"We were talking about a few private matters..." Shirota cut in.

"Well, whatever you said must have caused him to drop all his defenses," Kimeru said with a shrug. "Because before the Saturday that you told us that you were together he was just staring at your picture the whole night."

"Point of the story is, I said a few things and I waited for him to act, which he did and we ended up together," Shirota said with finality.

Kimeru grinned. "You're one heck of a guy, you know that?" he said before messing up Shirota's hair.

Shirota moved forward, saving his hair from further disorientation as he swiftly combed it back to normal with his fingers.

Takigawa laughed. "Shirota doesn't enjoy having someone mess up his hair," he pointed out.

"I've noticed," Kimeru said before noticing that they were already at Takigawa's place. "Well...I guess we'll see you tomorrow, Shirota-kun," he said with a smile.

Shirota nodded, bidding them good night before walking further down the street to his own house.

----------

Takigawa unlocked the door and headed inside. He went the living room, noticing that one of Shirota's guitars was still there. He moved to place it back in its case. "I'll have to give this back to him tomorrow," he told himself.

Kimeru looked at the guitar for a while before smiling. "Hey Takigawa, play something for me," he said suddenly.

Takigawa paused and turned to Kimeru. "Ah, gomen... I don't..."

Kimeru chuckled. "Even if it's just the song for the play, I don't mind..." he said with a soft smile. "…please?"

Takigawa nodded before sitting down, taking the guitar up and began plucking the corresponding strings before he began to sing.

"One Song
Glory
One Song
Before I Go
Glory
One Song To Leave Behind

Find One Song
One Last Refrain
Glory
From The Pretty Boy Front Man
Who Wasted Opportunity

One Song
He Had The World At His Feet
Glory
In The Eyes Of A Young Girl
A Young Girl
Find Glory
Beyond The Cheap Colored Lights

One Song
Before The Sun Sets
Glory - On Another Empty Life
Time Flies - Time Dies
Glory - One Blaze Of Glory
One Blaze Of Glory – Glory"

Kimeru closed his eyes as Takigawa reached the middle of the song. He smiled softly as he listened to the lyrics.

"Find
Glory
in a song that rings true
truth like a blazing fire
an eternal flame

Find
One Song
A Song About Love
Glory
From The Soul Of A Young Man
A Young Man

Find
The One Song
Before The Virus Takes Hold
Glory
Like A Sunset
One Song
To Redeem This Empty Life

Time Flies
And Then - No Need To Endure Anymore
Time Dies"

When the song ended, he slowly opened his eyes and gazed fondly at Takigawa. "That was perfect...Eiji-kun."

Takigawa smiled before breaking into a grin. "You just called me..." Takigawa got to his feet, placing the guitar back in its case before approaching Kimeru. "Do me a favor when you become a J-Pop singer..." he said quietly, pulling Kimeru to his feet. "Write a song for me..." he said, pressing his forehead against Kimeru's, smiling. "Ii na, Kime-kun?" he finished before kissing him on the lips.

Kimeru smiled. "No problem…" he whispered as he placed his arms around Takigawa, "I'll make the perfect song for you. I promise."

Takigawa nodded. "I know you will."

Kimeru chuckled before pulling away. "Now come on...we better get to bed or else we'll both end up waking up late tomorrow," he said.

Takigawa nodded. "You're right. Though no matter what time we sleep, it ends up with me still waking up early and having to prepare breakfast," he teased, heading up the stairs two steps at a time.

"That's not true! I can wake up early if I want to!" Kimeru said, grin back in place as he ran after Takigawa.

---

TBC

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