Geez, what happened to uploading ch8 of "Hidden Affection"? Uhh, I dunno... e.e I haven't had that many ideas for it. To tell you the truth, I've lost a couple of my ideas for it. Dx Sorry guys.

Anyway, here's the third chapter of this series. Hope you guys are enjoying is so far!

"So he's my boyfriend, huh?" Hamuko frowned, sitting down on the couch. She picked up the tea that Yukari had prepared. She had wanted to stay with the brunette for the night, since they both agreed that they needed to catch up, even though Hamuko didn't have much to say…

"I'm surprised you didn't remember Shinjiro-senpai. Actually…," Yukari took a sip of her own tea, "everyone is surprised that you didn't remember him. After all, he spent your last moment with you." Yukari placed the cup down on the table and put a hand through her hair. "I'm pretty sure he's the most surprised. But of course, he won't show it with that pride of his…"

Hamuko sipped her tea and stared at the wall. She knew she should start a relationship with him again, but how? She isn't going to have that easy access of being in SEES anymore. She doesn't even remember how Shinjiro was like. How was she going to fall in love with him again? The girl sighed.

"I should get some sleep, Yukari-chan." Hamuko put down her cup. "I think I want to meet Shinjiro-senpai tomorrow."

Yukari hesitated, then nodded. She smiled. "I'll ask Akihiko-senpai if he can drag Shinjiro-senpai to come meet you."

The crimson eyed thanked her friend, then proceeded to lie down and drift off into sleep.

…

A knock sounded from the door, waking up the shiba inu, who pounced on his owner. Shinjiro woke up and laughed a bit, patting the white dog. He got up and opened the door, and behind it stood Akihiko.

"You could've given me a damn call," Shinjiro frowned. He let the other male in.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have picked up." Akihiko walked in and sat at a nearby couch. "Besides, it's better to talk this way. I know you don't like encounters over the phone. And this way, I can hit you if you say something I don't like."

Shinjiro closed the door and sat down across from the boxer, scowling. "The hell do you want?" Koromaru jumped up next to the brunette male and sat down, observing the two.

"Yukari called me this morning and asked me if I could convince you to meet Hamuko." Akihiko rubbed the back of his neck. "You shouldn't have just left like that last night."

"Yeah?" Shinjiro clenched his fists. "Well, what the hell was I supposed to do? Stand there and watch while you guys have your own little reunion? If Hamuko doesn't remember me, then she can go through her whole damn life that way." Shinjiro winced a bit. Since when did he stop caring about their relationship?

Akihiko gritted his teeth. "Dammit, Shinji! You don't understand!" The white haired male stood up, as to get his point across. "She doesn't have her whole life right now! She has a month, a goddamn month, to reconnect with everyone before having to set off again! And hell, we all figured that we could give you the whole month to restart your relationship with her. But you're too damn prideful to take up your duty as her boyfriend." Akihiko clenched his fists. "I should've been her boyfriend!"

Shinjiro landed a rough blow across Akihiko's face, making him fall back.

"Fuck you, Aki." Shinjiro's eyes grew furious. "If you want to fuck her so badly, then do it. Just don't think that Mitsuru is going forgive you for it."

Akihiko stood up. He wiped the blood from his mouth and turned, opening the door. "If you loved her so much, you wouldn't be able to bear being forgotten like this." Akihiko went through and slammed the door behind him.

Shinjiro bit his lip and turned to smash his fist against the wall. "Fuck!" He slumped down to the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…" Tears began streaming down his cheeks, and the shiba inu walked over and whined, placing his head on the man's leg. "Dammit, why am I the only one she doesn't remember?" He looked over at Koromaru's white face, and the dog whimpered, giving him a worried expression. "If she loved me so much, she wouldn't have forgotten me."

A knock was heard from behind Shinjiro, making him stand up and open the door. "The hell is it now, Aki?" he growled, opening it abruptly.

The girl behind the door squeaked, and Shinjiro's eyes widened. "Oh, ah, uh, h-hi Shinjiro-senpai." Hamuko pulled nervously at the white skirt that she was wearing. "M-may I come in…?" Shinjiro stepped to the side, allowing the girl entry into his flat. "Thank you…" Shinjiro gestured toward a seat, and Hamuko sat down. She shifted nervously in her seat as Shinjiro closed the door, walking into his kitchen.

"Want some coffee?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you." Hamuko looked around the room. It was a bit tidier than she had expected, save for a few papers here and there. It seemed that they all belonged to a cookbook of some kind…

"Black coffee is okay?" The clattering of cups was heard from the kitchen, along with a "Shit!" as one of the cups shattered on the floor.

"Yes…" She looked over, trying to catch a glimpse of the kitchen. "Are you alright, Shinjiro-senpai?" She never took the man as the clumsy type.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed. "Just broke a cup. I can clean it up."

Koromaru came from the kitchen and ran over to Hamuko. "Oh, hey, Koro-chan." She patted the dog. "I didn't know you lived here with Shinjiro-senpai." The dog barked and licked the girl's face. "Hehe, you certainly haven't changed."

Shinjiro walked out of the kitchen and brought a couple cups of coffee with him. He handed one to the girl, who took it generously. The two sat in silence as they both drank from their cups.

"How are you?" the brunette man spoke. This startled the girl a bit, and she put down her cup. "I mean…," he sighed, "sorry, you probably feel like shit, considering you've had to put up with humanity's crap for a whole year."

"I-I'm fine, actually." The girl laughed a bit. "It was tiring, sure, but I guess you could say it gave me a sort of mellow outlook on life." She adjusted the short sleeves of her orange top. "I've wanted someone to talk to for a long time. Talking to myself or Erebus didn't suit for well enough conversation."

Shinjiro chuckled. "You were always the one to be so talkative." He sipped his coffee. "I kinda missed listening to you talk about nonsense. Even when I was in the hospital…" He winced a bit, remembering the times he would dream about her crying face, begging for him to come back. "You were… such a crybaby." He laughed and the girl stared over at him. "You always cried whenever you visited me. When you passed, I figured it was my turn to do the same. Heh." He smiled sadly, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's why I didn't visit you often."

Hamuko reached over and lifted the cup to her lips. She put her coffee down. "Tell me about… how we used to be." Hamuko looked over at the male hesitantly. Shinjiro's eyes widened, then he looked down.

"I was a hot-headed bastard," he started. He smiled a bit. "I didn't want anyone near me, and I avoided conversation with you guys as much as possible." He leaned forward a bit, reminiscing the past. "But you… You somehow built up the courage to come talk to me. Heh, you even took me out on a movie date once. I cried through a couple of the scenes, but you didn't notice until we got out and my eyes were still red." He laughed. "We started going out to eat more often. I helped out Fuuka with her cooking. We even made dinner for the whole group." Hamuko watched as a smile lit up his face. She felt a bit happy, watching him rethink the past, though she couldn't figure out why. "Whenever I passed the damn kitchen, they stared at me like I was gonna do something. But… it was fun." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Then, you found my pocketwatch, and you gave it to me. You even confessed that you loved me. I called you an idiot, then… we ended up messing around in my room. After that…" He winced, his smile dying down. "Ken wanted to talk to me, and we both abandoned the operation that night. Takaya found us… then he shot me. Twice." He put a hand over his chest. "He ran away, and you guys came… You found me on the floor, and I told you that this was how it should be… You refused, and kept crying over my body. I blacked out." He bit his lip. "I would've died if it wasn't for that pocketwatch. I would've been a lot more grateful if it hadn't put me in a coma for six months. By then…," he sighed, "by then, you guys already went through the final battle, and you were already too weak. I held you in my arms, and… you passed away."

Hamuko stared at him sadly. How could she forget a relationship like this? She felt like an idiot for not being able to remember such a tough guy with a soft heart. She rubbed her shoulder. She wanted to remember all of those times, but how? She couldn't seem to remember now.

"I'm sorry," the girl uttered. The male looked up. "I mean, I'm sorry that I don't remember. It must hurt, I know…"

Shinjiro shook his head and spoke, "It's better off this way. At least it won't cause you pain anymore."

Hamuko frowned. "But I want to remember. And I would rather cause myself pain than cause you pain." She sighed. "I want to be able to love you again, but I've lost that feeling because I can't remember who you are." She smiled sadly, and a tear dripped down her cheek. "And I was the idiot who said that I loved you first. If I loved you so much, I shouldn't forget about you."

Shinjiro sat back. "Then, let's help you remember." Hamuko looked up, and the male looked over to the side, his hand hiding a quiet blush. "If you want to remember so badly, then let's relive everything. I-I mean…," he stuttered, "not everything. I'm not willing to go into a coma again or force you to do something you don't want to do." Hamuko giggled and the man blushed even more. "We can start over, right? You've already taken the first step."

"Alright then," the girl agreed. "In that case, this will be a fun month."

Soo what're they gonna end up doing in the next chapter? ;D Heh, this is gonna be a funnn series. Not to mention all the angst I'm going to write... *sighs* Well, I'm not gonna bother saying anything this time... That's right! You better learn to take my angst! Ahem, anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter. I didn't think it was very good myself, save for the scene when Akihiko gave Shinjiro a quick visit. Look forward to the next chapter! Enjoy the quick uploads while you can - I'm not usually this active. xD

~theIdiosocracy, Diocchin and Cy-kun