Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 8: Movements for Change
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: Erika-sama being awesome. And phone calls are [inside brackets].

"Erika-san knows something I don't, doesn't she?" Masaomi brought his face to inches of Mikado's when they all got together on Sunday afternoon. "Erika-san KNOWS something I don't, DOESN'T she?" He repeated again with a glare and pointed to the smirking woman. "Look at her! She knows something I don't!"

"Don't get so angry, Kida-kun! You'll get the baby upset!" Erika tried to calm him down but her smile wouldn't seize and that just agitated the host more.

"That only happens if it's the mother feeling the emotion." Saki explained calmly to Erika, who seemed surprised to hear that but expected it from a woman working in a nursery.

"Should we go in?" Anri held her own type of my-pace and turned to Mikado with a smile.

"Oh. Sure." Mikado quickly escaped with Anri into the store, followed by the three behind him. The moment they went in, Mikado felt a sigh coming. There were too many models of cell phones lately so having to choose one would be somewhat of a pain.

And thus, the search for a good phone for Mikado began. His friends kept suggesting something that suited their tastes but eventually, Mikado had decided on one that Anri picked. It was a flip phone of a pale blue color that somehow bordered on grey.

"Ah, I get it! It's favoritism! Sensei is playing the favoritism card! He loves Anri-chan so of course he'll pick her choice!" Masaomi said with a pout, ignoring how Erika seemed to be in pain from all the laughter. Saki had to go to her and calm her down; otherwise she might've really stopped breathing.

"Masaomi… You do know I'm going to become a teacher. I can't just choose something like that." Mikado pointed to the bright neon yellow phone Masaomi had picked. For some reason, it reminded him of a certain type of car he'd seen abroad various times.

"Then you'd just ignore your best friend's fashion advice for the sake of sticking to the old ways?" Masaomi turned his head away, hoping to get some pity points from Mikado. "You're going to be teaching younger kids! Up-to-fashion-codes younger kids! They'll laugh at you my friend! They will!"

"Masaomi, I understand." Mikado sighed and stepped towards Masaomi with a soft smile.

"Oh? You understand, my friend? You've finally seen the light?" Masaomi turned back to Mikado with a few tears in his eyes. A floor salesman hurried to look for a chair for Erika, who was almost hyperventilating.

"Never in my life will I choose your outdated fashion sense." Mikado replied with a thumbs-up and walked over to another salesperson to work out the details.

"How cruel Mikado! To think those words would actually come from your mouth!" Masaomi continued his joke while Anri tried to cheer him up, thinking he really was feeling depressed.

After the whole show at the store, Erika led them to a small bar hidden from view the other three recognized. Without saying anything to Mikado, especially Anri, who believed this to be okay, they all entered the bar. Mikado was curious why they had come here but froze once he saw the three people inside he knew well.

"Ryugamine?" Kadota Kyohei stood up in shock but his surprise lasted as long as the one next to him spoke up.

"Mikado-kun! How was America?" Yumasaki Walker called out and walked over to Mikado with the same grin he usually wore back when Mikado was still around. Walker seemed to act as if Mikado had simply been gone on a vacation.

"Eh? Ah… It was good…" Mikado replied slowly and looked over to Erika in shock.

"Well, you see. Yumacchi figured it out. He noticed I was hiding something so I told him I'd show him today!" Erika replied slyly and walked over to her husband, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Then, with all the energy she normally displayed, she turned to Kyohei. "Are you surprised Dotachin?"

"…Extremely." Kyohei replied honestly and Mikado turned to him.

"I'm sorry for not saying anything to you all as well!" He apologized and looked towards Walker, who replied easily to his worries.

"You were going on a journey of fulfillment, right? No, I understand. It's a journey every man must take at least once!" Walker seemed to be enjoying himself and noticed Masaomi placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You're right, Yumasaki-san! Totally right! Mikado's finally grown up into a man!" With those words, he walked over to the bar. "Two rum and coke!"

"You're seriously asking for alcohol this early in the afternoon?" Togusa Saburou asked with a confused gaze.

"Hey! I'm used to alcohol! And it's not like I'm going to drink a lot! I just like what you make! Come on Togusa-san! I'm a paying customer, aren't I?" Masaomi pouted and everyone turned their attention onto him. Any tense feelings that Mikado or Kyohei felt were immediately dispelled.

"You've been good then?" Kadota asked and led them to a U-table where all but Saki and Masaomi sat.

"Yes. I'm sorry if I worried you." Mikado apologized again with a frown but felt Kyohei ruffling his hair as if he were a kid.

"No, the important thing is that you're okay." Kyohei smiled and noticed Erika signaling Anri for something. "What are you doing?" He turned to the pregnant woman with a curious look.

"Now Anri-chan!" Erika suddenly screamed and Anri fumbled as she took Mikado's phone from his pocket and threw it to Erika.

"Ah! My phone!" Mikado was surprised by their actions and was confused why they had just stolen his new phone. "Would you please give it back?" He asked the woman with a sad look.

"Not yet!" Erika grinned while pressing a lot of buttons on it.

"Are you adding all our numbers?" Walker asked while trying to look at what she was doing but saw her nod in agreement.

"I guess that's okay then…" Mikado seemed a bit worried but let Erika do her thing. It shouldn't take that long anyways. It was only Anri, Masaomi, Saki, Erika, Walker, Kyohei and Saburou's numbers she was adding. At least, that's what Mikado believed. Until he saw Erika place his phone on her ear.

"Hi~!" Erika spoke up with a wide grin and everyone looked at her confused. Who is she calling?, they all wondered. "This is Erika-sama calling to give this number to you with all her love! Whose number is what you're probably wondering, right? Of course, that is Mi-ka-do-kun!" At these words, Mikado and Anri paled while the rest were just confused as to why she was giving Mikado's number to a stranger. Is it a stranger anyways?

As soon as she had said his name, Erika had hung up the phone and handed it back to Mikado, who slowly and fearfully took it in his hands. "Why?" He asked her, a sad puppy-dog look in his eyes.

"For fun?" Erika cutely replied, titling her head to the side for a second. "I also saved the number beforehand in case you need it." She winked at him and before anyone could say anything else, Masaomi came to the table, along with Saki, with different drinks for them all.

So for the moment, none of them knew what exactly had happened and decided not to pursue the matter until Mikado was ready. The last thing they wanted was for Mikado to leave again.

… … …

[Of course, that is Mi-ka-do-kun!] The line hung up right after that. He was confused for a second. But then he nearly crushed his phone. That flea was telling the truth, he thought, almost losing it. After calming himself a bit, his thoughts turned to one thing only. What should he do with the number now that he had it?

To Be Continued…