Many thanks to those who followed/favorited/reviewed for the first chapter of this work. I present to you the second chapter of Otoya's story. Enjoy!

Italics- thoughts/flashbacks

The Story of Ittoki Otoya II

Otoya didn't see the twins again for the next few days, and Eiichi and Nagi left him mostly alone, only shooting him nasty glares when they passed him in the halls. No one except Otoya and the twins knew that the happy redhead had cried so hard that he almost couldn't breathe a couple days ago.

Now that Otoya wasn't falling to pieces, he felt overwhelming embarrassment at the fact that he had just grabbed a stranger and wept like a baby. He wasn't sure which was worse: him ruining someone else's shirt with tears and snot or someone he didn't know seeing him at his worst.

Otoya blushed as he thought back to that day and quickly covered his face with his hands when a couple students gave him curious looks. 'Aahhhh, stop thinking about that,' the redhead mentally scolded himself. However, his brain was in a rebellious mood since the memory of what happened after Otoya stopped crying surfaced.

"Um, I'm sorry," Otoya muttered when he felt like he could talk again. He rubbed away the last few tears that were trailing down his face, keeping his gaze fixed on his shoes as he stepped away from the person that he had been squeezing the life out of a few seconds ago.

"Don't worry about it," the twin who had been yelling at Eiichi's gang said kindly, "You don't have to hold it in all the time. If you want to cry, just cry. Bottling it up isn't good for you."

Otoya looked up. The boy smiled at him and turned to the other navy-haired boy, who had been silent the entire time. "Hey, Tokiya, what time is it?"

His twin looked at the watch that was around his wrist. "3:45," he said, his voice carrying a calmer tone than the other boy.

"Ah, we have to go then. Mom is probably waiting for us." The boy turned back to Otoya. "We'll see you around some time. If Eiichi and Nagi bother you again, don't be afraid to ask us for help."

The twins turned to leave. "W-Wait!" Otoya called before he could stop himself. They stopped and looked at him expectantly. Otoya flushed slightly and opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish. Then he awkwardly bowed to them. "Thank you for your help!" he practically shouted from embarrassment. "A-And I'm sorry for ruining your shirt. If there's anything I can do…"

"It's fine," Tokiya interrupted.

"B-But…!"

"I never really liked this shirt anyway." Tokiya's mouth curled upwards in a faint smile. "Don't worry about it."

Otoya shook his head furiously to dispel the thoughts, but his fading blush had returned at the memory of Tokiya's smile. 'What? Why am I blushing?' He rubbed at his cheeks, hoping to make the blush go away. When it finally disappeared, the redhead rejoined the flood of students walking out to the playground where their parents were waiting to pick them up.

As he stepped out of the school, Otoya froze. Standing by the gate in front of him was Tokiya, calming chatting with an orange-haired boy. The redhead stood there in surprise for a few seconds with his mouth hanging partially open.

Suddenly, two hands landed on his shoulders, snapping him out of his state of shock. Otoya jumped and yelped, whirling around to see...another Tokiya?

No, this was Tokiya's twin. Otoya didn't know his name, but the boy obviously recognized the redhead judging by the giant smile on his face.

"Ah, sorry. Did I scare you, nya?" The boy laughed apologetically. Otoya blinked at the other's words.

"Oh, it's okay. I wasn't expecting you." He rubbed the back of his head, ruffling the messy red spikes. Was this guy secretly a cat? Otoya had never met a person who said 'nya' before, and he was pretty sure that only cats said that. Did that mean Tokiya was a cat, too?

"I realized I didn't tell you my names a few days ago." The boy held out his right hand. "I'm Hayato, nya. Ichinose Hayato."

Otoya shook his hand politely. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ittoki Otoya."

Hayato grinned and began pulling Otoya towards the gate. Tokiya and the orange-haired boy paused in their conversation as they watched the shy redhead get dragged over by Tokiya's identical twin.

"Tokiya, Ren, this is Ittoki Otoya!" Hayato happily introduced. "Otoya, this is my brother Tokiya and our friend Jinguuji Ren."

"Nice ta meet ya, Ikki." Ren waved casually with a smirk on his face. 'Ikki?' Otoya repeated to himself as he returned the greeting.

"Is there someone waiting to pick you up, Otoya?" Hayato asked.

"Ah, yes." Otoya looked around. "He should be here soon…"

"Otoyan!"

A tall, brown-haired teenage boy approached the group of boys. "Rei-chan!" Otoya called enthusiastically.

The teenager grinned at them. "Are these your friends, Otoyan? You should introduce me!"

"Okay," Otoya agreed cheerfully. He pointed to the teenager and said proudly, "This is Rei-chan. He's my babysitter since my parents have to work so I'm not alone in the house."

'Rei-chan' laughed and added, "My full name is Kotobuki Reiji, but you can call me Rei-chan."

"Are you in high school, nya?" Hayato blurted out, eyes sparkling with anticipation. Ren looked mildly curious while Tokiya's gaze flickered between Reiji and Otoya.

"Yup. I'm in my last year of high school," Reiji confirmed.

"So cool..." Hayato gazed at Reiji with admiration while Ren and Tokiya kept up impressive poker faces.

"Are you ready to go, Otoyan?" Reiji asked the redhead, "Do you have everything?"

"Yeah." Otoya nodded. "See you guys around." He waved goodbye to Hayato, Ren, and Tokiya. They answered with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Bye-bye, Otoya!"

"See ya, Ikki."

"See you." Otoya's red eyes met Tokiya's blue ones and the redhead quickly turned around and walked away as fast as he could in order to hide the redness that was creeping up his face. Reiji followed after Otoya, calling for the elementary school boy to slow down and wait for the brown-haired teenager.

The next day...

Otoya stood on his toes and stretched as far as he could, but his fingers just brushed the book that sat innocently on the shelf. He groaned in frustration and turned to find something that he could stand on, but someone reached past him and slid the book off the shelf.

"Here." Tokiya held the book out.

"Thank you." Otoya hesitantly accepted the book as Tokiya reached back up the shelf. "Do you come here often?"

"At least once a week," Tokiya answered as he skimmed through the book he had picked out, "I usually come here on Fridays."

"Really?" Otoya brightened. "I come here every Friday to wait for my mom to pick me up."

"Wait for your mom?" Tokiya repeated, looking at the redhead curiously, "Why doesn't Kotobuki-san walk you home?"

"Oh, that's 'cause Rei-chan has to practice with his band on Fridays, so he doesn't have time to come get me."

"So you wait here alone?"

"Well, there's still the librarian and the other kids who stay behind…" Otoya's voice trailed off to a mumble as Tokiya stared at him doubtfully, "And there are a lot of books that I can read while I wait, so it's okay."

Truthfully, it was not okay at all. Otoya was never really interested in most of the books in the library. Most of the time, he would end up spacing out and his thoughts would wander. When that happened, he would sometimes think about his real parents, and that made him feel lonely. Otoya hated being alone above all else.

Neither he nor Tokiya spoke for a while as the latter finished flipping through the book in his hands. Then he snapped the book shut and turned to face Otoya.

"Want to come over?"

"Huh?" Otoya gaped in surprise. "Oh, no. I don't want to intrude!"

Tokiya reached over and grabbed Otoya by the wrist. "You're not intruding. Besides, you don't have to be alone this way." He pulled the redhead over to the check-out counter.

Any protests that Otoya had died in his throat. Everyone else had always assumed that he was happy because he was always putting on a smiling face. 'How do you know what I'm really feeling?' Otoya wondered as he silently watched Tokiya check out their books.

Once the books were properly checked out, Tokiya led the way down to the front gate where Hayato and a woman were waiting. The woman had pretty blue hair that flowed down to her waist and blue eyes. Otoya guessed that she was Hayato's and Tokiya's mother since the three had the same eyes and face, although her hair was a lighter blue than her sons'.

"Mom, can Otoya come over today?" Tokiya asked.

"Eh? Are his parents okay with that?" Both Hayato and the woman looked mildly surprised at Tokiya's sudden question.

"We haven't asked yet. Can you call?"

"Then how about we walk home and I can give them a call," she suggested, "Is that okay with you, Otoya-kun?"

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to intrude," Otoya apologized, bowing slightly to her.

"Oh, no, we'd love to have you over." She smiled gently and reassuringly. 'Like Tokiya,' Otoya mentally noted. "Tokiya has never asked to bring a friend home before, so I look forward to talking to the boy who broke him out of his shell."

"Mom!" Tokiya yelled indignantly as a faint blush colored his cheeks. His mother laughed as she ushered the three boys through the gate. Otoya briefly wondered if Tokiya's laugh was like his mother's too.