Riku: Hey Riku here, don't worry we are not dead. We just are dealing with life as we can and Hikari is just a bit stir crazy. But other than that we are doing well. Sorry for the wait but here is the chapter!

Chapter 38

The two boys made their way outside and headed towards the park. The sun had already set long ago, so all of the streetlights nicely illuminated the park. There were a few people out there as well, sitting on benches or just strolling about. None really seemed to bat an eye to Saru and Yata, or Cloud who was trailing behind then.

Upon walking further they saw there were more people gathered in the openness of the grassy area of the park. Many of them sitting down on blankets and talking amongst one another.

"Huh? Is something going on tonight?" Yata asked.

"I think there is some concert followed by a fireworks show," Cloud answered as he came up behind them. He pointed to a piece of paper that was stuck to a tree that read exactly what he had just stated.

"Oh. Um… you wanna stay and see that?" Yata asked as he looked to Saruhiko.

Saru just shrugged in response, muttering about how he didn't have any other ideas

Yata exhaled slowly. This was getting to be more difficult than he thought. Not that something he felt like he couldn't stand Saruhiko, but it was for the fact that he was so indecisive most of the time. "Whatever then… I guess we will just find a spot to sit and watch."

The two of them proceeded onto the grass where they tried to find a spot that was open for them to sit. Though just as they found an open area to sit down, Yata caught sight of someone that was sitting just a bit to the right of the open spot.

"Huh, Mikoto? Anna? I didn't expect you guys to be here."

The father and daughter looked over to him and Anna waved to him before pushing herself to her feet.

"Good evening, Misaki." Anna greeted in a soft voice, before turning to Saru. Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You're the one Misaki likes." She sounded almost upset while speaking.

Yata's eyes widened suddenly. "A-Ah, Anna… what do you think you're talking about?"

"Anna," Mikoto said. He didn't get up from where he sat, but he was looking at the group now with his usual serious demeanor. "Don't act so cold to him."

"Anyways," Yata said, clearing his throat. "You guys also here to see the fireworks and stuff?"

"Of course, Misaki," Anna replied politely.

Narrowing his eyes, Saruhiko tilted his head to the side. "I thought you prefered if people didn't call you Misaki?"

Yata rubbed the back of his neck a little as he sighed. "Yeah I don't, but Anna just likes to always call people by their first name. There's no point in stopping her, but that doesn't mean I want you to call me that!"

"I'll address you how I want to, Mi~sa~ki~" Saru almost whispered in yata's ear.

Yata tensed up as he felt the heat rush into his cheeks. "Just shut it," he hissed back, trying to be quiet enough hat Anna wouldn't hear.

Saruhiko chuckled softly, leaning in even closer. "Why don't you make me, Mi~sa~ki?"

Yata nearly jumped away from how close Saruhiko was. He could have swore he even felt the guy breathing on him with each word. With a quick glance he saw that Anna was staring at the both of them rather curiously. He knew he couldn't let Saruhiko get too out of hand. If Anna started to question too much, Yata was sure that Mikoto would have his head.

"Let's just watch the show okay?" Yata said quickly.

Anna just glared once more at Saruhiko, barely even blinking as she did so. After a moment she finally sighed and closed her eyes. Facing Yata more directly she gave him a serious stare. "Just be careful, Misaki."

After that Anna went back over to Mikoto and sat down next to him. Now that they had their space to themselves, Yata finally sat down on the cool grass. Saruhiko sat down a moment later, right besides Yata, leaving very little space between them.

"D-Don't you think you're being a little close?" Yata asked.

"Why not?" Saruhiko asked as if the answer was obvious. "Didn't you enjoy our time at the amusement park when I was even closer?"

Without warning Saruhiko wrapped an arm around Yata and pulled him in close. Now again Yata felt his cheeks heat up again… he was beginning to lose track at this point and it was really starting to annoy him.

"Well I um… I…" He tried to argue or make some rebuke, but in all honesty he couldn't. So many things were swirling around in his head he thought he was going to get a headache from it. Eventually he just let out a long exhale. "I don't know, okay? This is just a lot to take in…"

"You mean to tell me that this is your first date? You really are such a virgin."

"You gotta cut it with the virgin stuff! Are you telling me you aren't a virgin?"

Saruhiko smirked. "You really want me to answer that, Misaki?"

"Well if you are going to keep on insulting me I might as well get an answer!"

"Goro Akechi."

Yata raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you… you mean you're serious?!"

Saruhiko just shrugged rather casually after that causing Yata to roll his eyes. "C'mon, you make this whole deal about me being a virgin, tell me you aren't then just leave it at that?"

"It's a bit early for me to tell you my whole life's story isn't it?"

"Ah… maybe I guess…"

Yata thought to say more, but the lights in the park dimed and the announcer came out to start the concert. There was nothing more for him to do but sit there and watch, all while still in Saruhuko's embrace. He had completely forgotten about that but at this point he didn't even seem to mind.

When the concert and the fireworks were over, the park lights returned to their normal brightness and people started to leave. Now that people were starting to leave, Yata finally decided he had enough of Saruhiko's hold and scrambled to his feet.

"Okay! I guess that was pretty cool then… right?"

"If you enjoyed that embrace so much, we can always do it again," Saruhiko replied smugly.

"H-Huh? No not that you monkey! I just mean with the… you know what, forget it. Let's just get going…"

He was ready to head out of there and leave when he saw Mikoto and Anna walk over towards them. Saruhiko was now standing and just beside Yata when Mikoto came, standing over them. Now being closer to the redhead, Saru could see that he was at least a good few inches taller. From a quick judgement Saru thought that he was probably around the same height as Zack.

"So you're the one that stole Yata's wallet before," he said with a rather uninterested tone, yet at the same time it had a hint of indimitation in it.

Yata thought that Saruhiko would reply, whether it be something snarky or not. But instead he said nothing, he kept his eyes forward though his entire body seemed tense. Mikoto was still giving him a long hard stare down but Saruhiko didn't move or even speak.

After a moment Mikoto shrugged. "Well if you two made amends, whatever. Just don't cause anymore trouble for Yata." He took Anna by the hand and then the two of them walked out of the park without another word.

"Hey," Yata said, grabbing a hold of Saruhiko's arm once Mikoto and Anna were gone. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Saru stated.

"You didn't look fine just a moment ago," Yata replied.

"It's nothing."

"Sure didn't look like nothing," Yata commented as he narrowed his eyes.

Saru didn't respond, instead turning to leave. Yata was left with still so much confusion. He blinked a few times trying to figure it out, but nothing was coming to his mind. Sighing, he ran to catch up with Saruhiko instead.

"So… I guess it's getting late…" Yata said as he looked up at the night sky. "Uh… should we maybe call it a night or something?"

"Probably," Saru answered, stopping to hesitantly face Yata.

"Okay… it was fun... I guess. You weren't as annoying as I thought you'd be today." Yata said, before coming to a stop as well.

"I wasn't aware you had such high expectations of me, Misaki." Saru spoke as he leaned closer towards Yata. There were now only a few inches between them.

Yata leaned back a bit, the heat burning into his cheeks. "H-Hey! Get of out my face you monkey!"'

"Tsk," Saruhiko clicked in annoyance, standing back upright..

"What? You had more to say?"

Saruhiko shrugged as he normally did before facing away from Yata, looking in the direction to where Cloud was. With the click of his tongue again, Saruhiko spoke up. "See you around, Misaki."

"Ah, um… okay. See you later," Yata said quickly as he watched Saruhiko walk off. He felt like he should have said more, like he could have said more, but he just didn't. He stood there just staring until he saw Cloud and Saruhiko walk away into the dark of the night.

Sighing, he turned and started to walk in the direction of home. With nothing else to do all he felt like was heading home and sleeping. "Maybe after some sleep I can think about this better…"

Cloud and Saruhiko were walking back through the woods. No words had been spoken between them at all the entire walk, but eventually Cloud thought he had to break the silence. He cleared his throat as he started to walk more alongside Saru.

"So, how did it go?"

"Weren't you watching the whole time?" Saru retorted.

"Yeah, but doesn't mean I know how you felt about it," Cloud replied with a shrug.

"I don't understand feelings."

Cloud sighed slightly before giving a light hum. "Well it looked like you had fun anyways with him."

"Hmm."

"It's just nice to know you've found an interest in someone. It makes Zack really happy you know."

"Zack's quite invested in the social lives of his brothers."

Cloud chuckled lightly. "Of course he is. He just wants what's best for your guys. He's spent all this time looking after all of you after all."

After a moment of seeing that Saruhiko had nothing to say, Cloud spoke up again. "And I know that I'm just Zack's boyfriend, but I care for you guys too."

After another quiet moment the two of them made the rest of their way back to the house. Once they were there Saru unlocked the door and they headed in. Zexion was currently in the kitchen reading a book while also eating from a small salad.

He placed down his book once he saw the two enter. "Ah, I was wondering when you two would be back. Riku and Zack are training down in the basement."

Cloud thanked Zexion before heading on through the house towards the stairs case that would lead him downstairs. After he was gone Zexion looked at Saru again. "Was your evening enjoyable?"

"And you want to know… because?"

"Because Zack kept going on about it, so it piqued my curiosity. I never took you one for romance."

Saru rolled his eyes. "Never said I was."

Zexion shrugged. "Well you obviously thought something since you decided to go out with this guy. At least based on the way Zack kept phrasing it. Is he wrong then on his assumption?"

Saru stayed quiet as he kept eyes locked with Zexion. He knew that he had his answer in his head, the one that played over and over again. He knew what it was and he was sure of what it meant, but when it came to trying to explain it… he was at a loss for words. He couldn't find ways to explain the thoughts to feelings that he had about Yata. He only knew that he had them.

Eventually Zexion sighed and got up from the table. He brought his empty bowl to the sink and washed it out. "I won't press you for answers like Zack would. Just thought to engage in some conversation on the matter if I could. It is only interesting that after all these years you two only now have found interest in others, no matter the reason or thought for it."

With a click of his tongue Saru moved into the kitchen space and started to look through the cabinets. "And where does that leave you, the second oldest of all of us?"

Zexion pressed his lips together into a line. He seemed to be distant, staring off into the corner. A sigh eventually escaped his lips. "I have never had any thoughts… to such things. To me it just seems…" he paused, contemplating his words. "I prefer to focus myself on my studies and work. That's as simple as I can explain it."

"Hm," Saru hummed at the response, not having much other thought anyways.

"Either way," Zexion said before turning to Saru. He had a small smirk on his face and he looked at his youngest brother. "How much do you wanna bet you get hounded by Zack before morning?"

"I'm a bit surprised he wasn't waiting to hound me when we got home."

"You can have me to thank for that," Riku said as he entered the room. "If I hadn't asked to train with him he would have been sitting at the front door like a dog waiting for his master to come home. Plus now he is talking with Cloud, probably might train a little with him too, so I say you're safe for now."

"Thanks," Saru replied quietly before pulling out a box of crackers from the cabinet.

"But I still hear a lot of Zack's excitement. How come you didn't tell us you were going on a date?"

Saru closed the cabinet. "Because I wasn't."

"So you just went to hangout with some guy you barely know, and who you constantly make fun of, because you just wanted to?"

"Yes."

Riku hummed as he stared at Saruhiko. "Well did you have a good time at least?"

"Yes, but unlike you I am not going to act like I am on cloud nine."

"So you do admit that you're in love?" Riku asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I admit that I'm drawn to Misaki in some manner, but I do not label this feeling as 'love'."

"Well if I may give some input," Zexion interjected. "There are a lot of different types of sexual orientations when it comes to things like this. You can have feelings towards a person but not necessarily have them be romantic desires."

"And why do you know this?"

"I've… I've looked into the matter when I was much younger. To see for myself what fitted for me," Zexion answered softly.

"And what did you find out?" Riku asked.

Zexion shifted, turning away from his brothers. "It was inconclusive for me. I just couldn't pinpoint anything that seemed to work. Maybe… some other day it will be clear."

"Oh… well I hope you figure that out," Riku replied afterward.

"Thank you," Zexion replied. After that he turned around, facing his brothers. "I should get to gathering my work that I need to bring to work tonight. So I'll bid you both goodnight."

The other two said their goodnights to their older brother and then it was just the two of them left in the room. Saruhiko had already moved to the kitchen table, eating his crackers along the way. Riku walked over to the table but didn't sit down, instead just standing near Saru.

"So… anything else you want to say? About tonight or whatever?"

"Nope."

Riku sighed halfheartedly, looking a little disappointed. "All right, well… if you do ever wanna talk, just let me know, okay?"

"You'd be like the third person I'd go to if I need to talk feelings."

"Ah…" Riku's voice faltered slightly, seeming a bit softer than before."I see… guess I'll leave you alone…" Riku walked quietly out of the room after that, not even waiting to see if Saru was going to say anything else.

Now that he was left alone in the room, Saruhiko could finally let go of the sigh that he had been holding on to. He ran a hand through his hair, combing his fingers through slowly. Maybe he had been a little too harsh with his words to Riku. He really didn't mean for it to come off as he did, but he couldn't help himself. He was still not the greatest at conveying what he was thinking in nice and understanding ways.

It wasn't that he just didn't think Riku was good to talk to when it came to the subject of feelings, it was the fact that Riku only now was discovering things for himself. Aside from his childhood friend he mentioned before, Riku never had seemed to have an interest in love or relations like that before. But now he did and everything was new to him. He wouldn't fully understand yet in Saru's opinion to have a proper conversation on it, not yet at least. Maybe in time, but there would still be a good bit of time before that could happen.