Ever since that first dream, I had begun to daydream about Lenalee. It started out innocently enough: wanting to hold her hand, or sit next to her in the library. But as time went on, they started to get more involved.

She came down to breakfast one morning with her hair down. The way those green-black strands cascaded down her back was drool-worthy, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to brush that gorgeous hair. A dab of jam in the corner of her mouth had me wanting to lick her lips to clean it off.

Before I knew it though, the daydreams started going the way of my dreams, and I often found myself retreating to the privacy of my bedroom. It was always a tense walk, simultaneously forcing myself to think of something, anything, other than Lenalee, and desperately trying to reach my room before some passerby noticed the growing bulge in my pants.

The frantic retreat was followed with either a cold shower or waiting for the feeling to pass. I refused to touch myself. It was bad enough that my hormonal teenage body made everything sexual; I was not going to add masturbation to that. It would only make things worse, and I was already on thin ice for lusting after Lenalee.

.x.x.

I had a day off, and I was going to enjoy it. I was going to go into town with Mr. Russell, and we were going to do some shopping for our families. And above all, I was going to get away from Allen. It seemed like all I did lately was moon over that white haired boy with the beautiful scar and wonder if he loved me back. I needed to get outside into the fresh air and clear my head. I couldn't continue to mope over my unrequited love.

The weather was nice, and Mr. Russell was great company. Shopping was fun, and yet I was not being very successful in my mission. I couldn't help but wish that I were out with a certain white haired boy. Couldn't help imagining him holding my hand as we walked from shop to shop. Couldn't help imagining dragging him away from every food stall we passed as he drooled and whined about being hungry.

In retrospect, if I hadn't been so distracted by daydreams of Allen, I probably would have noticed that Nii-san was in one of his overprotective moods again.

.x.x.

Lavi and I had gone to the Science Department to chat with Johnny and Reever and the other scientists. Something was always happening down there, and I needed the distraction. What I was not expecting, however, was to see Lenalee in street clothes on her way to go out for the day...

She looked fabulous. I couldn't help but stare. But at least I wasn't drooling, like Lavi sometimes does when he sees a pretty girl. Part of me noted that the image of Lenalee dressed like that was exactly what I had been trying to avoid by coming to the Science Department, but it wasn't until Lavi accused me of staring that I was able to look away. I don't remember what happened between then and Lenalee leaving; my head was too fuzzy while she was there.

My head cleared once she was gone, and I noticed that Mr. Russell was absent. I pounced on the distraction, trying to keep my thoughts from drifting to places they didn't need to be. Fortunately, I got the distraction I wanted. Unfortunately, I somehow started a chain reaction that sent Komui into one of his psychotic robot-making frenzies.

I ended up in town with everyone else, following Komui and trying to stop him from ruining Lenalee's day off. Fortunately, I had serious things to worry about, i.e. the psychotic robot-making supervisor, or I might have gotten lost in daydreams of Lenalee.

I knew the man was overprotective of his little sister, but I never imagined that it went so far that he'd try to break up a date that wasn't really a date. It scared the crap out of me. If that was how he reacted to someone who clearly had no intentions towards her, what would happen to me, if he ever found out that I frequently daydreamed about her? I didn't want to imagine it, but I knew it would be a thousand times worse than the drill he used on my Innocence.

I destroyed the rebuilt Sir Koumlin, only to be shot with some weird gun that stuck an octopus on my head. It was probably karma, unknowing payback for the dirty thoughts I had. I struggled to remove the thing, and Timcanpy tried to help, but it just wouldn't come off. And when it did finally come off, there was another one underneath it!

Ridding myself of the second octopus was just as obnoxious as the first, and when it was gone, I took stock of my surroundings. I found a drugged and half-conscious Lavi, a destroyed shop, and a tied up Mr. Russell. After piecing together what happened, I rushed to catch up with the others, arriving just in time to destroy the akuma that was apparently stalking Lenalee.

.x.x.

I should have known that Komui and his latest Koumlin robot were behind those explosions. And to think he thought I was dating Mr. Russell. The whole thing was psychotic! I used a little more force than usual when I kicked some sense into him with the Dark Boots, taking out some of my frustrations on him.

After stopping Koumlin and saving Mr. Russell, it turned out that he was really a shapeshifting akuma trying to kill me. And guess who showed up just in time to save the day? Allen. Fortunately, he had an octopus stuck on his head. It made me laugh at the last second rescue, rather than the weak-in-the-knees love-struck I would have probably felt otherwise. The clueless look on his face as we all laughed was adorable, however, and it stuck with me even after we'd finished cleaning up the mess Komui had made of the town.

.x.x.

Whenever we looked back on that day, everyone would laugh about the octopus heads, but I never could. They assumed I was embarrassed, but the truth was that the event was a terrifying reminder that I was eventually going to be on the receiving end of Komui's sister complex.

But there was a different problem I was focused on. I had finally identified the cause of the pain in my chest that I had felt watching Lenalee and Mr. Russell that day: it was jealousy. I wanted it to be me that she went out with, wanted it to be me that she dragged into shops and stopped for tea with.

And that made the other problem I'd been having worse. Cold showers just weren't cutting it anymore. They still worked, but they began taking longer and using colder water. I caved in my resolve and resorted to touching myself. Jerking off was quicker and more effective, the feeling making me wonder why I had been so against it. Then I'd come down from the high and feel awful.

I needed a mission. I needed to get out of headquarters and away from Lenalee. I needed to clear my head.

I should have been more specific in my wishing. Being sexually frustrated at home was infinitely preferable to being sent to look for Master Cross.

That mission turned out to be worth it in the end. I could have done without the reminders of how traumatic my time with Master Cross was though. Vampire hunting with Lavi was fun, if a little harrowing, and we got a new comrade out of the deal. My cursed eye evolved too, though it's hard to tell if that was a good thing.

But best of all, I had several days free of daydreaming about Lenalee. I thought about her occasionally: wondering if she missed me, if she really would never speak to me again if I got bitten. They were all clean thoughts and my dreams stayed dry.

The trip home was an adventure and a half. Looking after Krory was a bit annoying, but at least I got to beat the snot out of some guys at poker. I was starting to think that my thing with Lenalee was just a crush that I had finally gotten over.

But then we arrived at headquarters, and Lenalee had to save us from one of Komui's crazy robots, and all of my problems came right back. She was just so beautiful and had such a strong spirit. And that was it. The final nail in my coffin. I would never again be able to deny that I was in love with her.