Happy Birthday to me. 8|

Warnings stay as the same as before; shonen-ai, OOC-ness (puleze it's obvious Takano is OOC-try to get a perfect mix of him and Gin and then talk to me (?) ), etc, etc.

I own nothing.

He gave a quick look to the left.

He gave a quick look to the right.

Well, there was no reason to hide anymore, it seemed. The teenager sighed with relieve and rose from his hidding place behind a big bush. Now, he was free to go and see Takano, finally! The vacations were almost over but he hadn't really gotten a chance to be Takano-san in all summer; his mother forced An-chan and him to be side by side 24/7, and in all honesty, it was suffocating. Normally, he wouldn't have minded An, truth be told- she was a very good friend and nice girl, but being by her side all summer was just too much. He had forgotten the definition of personal space.

To make things worse, he'd notice An-chan being just as tired as he was, but with his mother's constant watch there was no way out of it for both teens. So now (finally after two weeks!), he could finally sneak away into the forest and see Takano. Ritsu had decided that if he couldn't escape today, he'd escape at night, and although that meant dealing with his mother's anger in the following morning, he would do it. It wasn't fair to be kept away of the person that you liked!

Liked...the simple thought of it seemed odd. He realized it, he liked Takano-san. He felt a different kind of love, no...affection, towards An-chan; and what he felt for Takano was love.

Which was worse than bad.

Because if a relationship between to guys already seemed impossible, just the thought of liking a youkai was insane. Ritsu had told himself thousands of times that he'd lost it, but that couldn't change the fact that he liked Takano. In other words, he was hopelessly in love with something that would never happen. Even if he got enough courage to confess (which would be plain insane), nothing could come out of it! He couldn't touch Takano! He couldn't hug him! He couldn't touch his hand! But he wanted to see him.

"Ritsu?" A delicate voice asked behind the boy.

"Uwaaaahhh!" Immediately, he leapt into air out of fright and he felt his heart leave his chest. "Oh my god!" He cried, still recovering from the shock. He turned around and saw An-chan looking at him with a confussed expression. "Oh my god, An-chan, what the-...why did you do that?"

The girl rolled her eyes before she smiled at Ritsu. "I was just going to go to shop. What are you doing hiding?"

The brunette remained silent for a second, recovering his normal heartbeat, before he replied. "I...I was just looking around." He lied. Perfect, now his plans were screwed.

Her eyes stared at Ritsu for a moment before she shrugged. "...Nee, you've been wanting to go to forest alot recently...are you meeting someone there?" She asked and seeing Ritsu's expression, her eyes widen. "So you are?" Although An had expected this, seeing how Ritsu wasn't denying it brought a new level of shock to her. Was she supposed to be mad now?

...No...An had learnt long ago that Ritsu didn't like her that way. "..." She gave him a weak smile. "Anyways, you should go to the forest before it gets dark. I'll buy you something." The girl waved as she parted from where Ritsu was.

Onodera stared blankly at An and watched as she left. Deciding to ask questions as to what she'd act like that later, he quickly rushed to the forest entrance. His heart was starting to beat quickly, but he had to calm down first. The last thing he wanted was to seem like a love-struck girl in front of Takano.

"Takano-san," He called out loud, looking at his around. "Takano-san!" He called again.

His callings were returned by a deep voice grumbling tiredly from behind a tall bush. "God, what are you doing here?" Takano asked, yawning. "I thought you had forgotten I was here."

Ritsu's green orbs widen notoriously as he took in the fact Takano wasn't wearing his mask. "...I...I could never forget you," Ritsu said as a matter of fact. Immediately, he realized his words, and added, "I mean, of course you're always here so it would be too stupid of me to forget it." Yeah, that seemed normal.

Takano scoffed, smiling for a second before yawning again. "So, how come you're free?"

Ritsu approached the youkai and sat down few steps away from him. "I got free time so I came here." The sixteen-year-old replied casually. "...Uhm, Takano-san, where is your mask?"

Takano's brown eyes shifted downwards for a second. "Oh, that...I don't know where I left it." He replied in a casual tone fixing his gaze on Ritsu. "Why?"

The brunette seemed slightly surprised at such laid back response but quickly got over it. "Well, in all this time I've known you, you've never been without it and well, you look like a human."

Takano smirked, "Really? I seem human?" He asked interested, crossing his legs and leaning forwards the younger boy. "Would you think I'm human if you saw me on the street?" The tone that Takano emitted was one of amusement.

"...I uh...yeah...why?" Why was Takano asking this sort of things in a tone like that?

"Just think of it, any human- even you!- could touch me then and I's disap..."

"Stop!" Ritsu shouted, making Takano's words halt. "Why do you say that?" The teen asked, looking at the black haired in the eyes. "Why would you want someone to touch you...? Why would you want to disappear?" His heart ached at the mere thought to Takano disappearing; it was too heartbreaking. Why was Takano thinking it? "Takano-san,...why-"

The youkai chuckled again, but this time it seemed as a tired chuckle. "I never told you about me, did I?" Ritsu shook his head. "I think it's time for you to do so." Seeing how Ritsu tilted his head to his side made Takano wonder if he should. "...I was born human," He started. "You see there were some legends that some babies were abandoned here at birth as sacrifice for the god of the mountain." He took a long pause, trying to remember more. "I was left here, to die. My parents apparently held no interest in raising a family, so I was just a baby when I was left here. Without any human contact, touch or anything...I was sure to die within hours." He chuckled dryly, as if were some kind of joke, which only concerned Ritsu more. "But then, for some reason, the god of the forest didn't want to kill me, and instead I fed off its energy." He glanced at Ritsu."The other youkai took care of me as I grew; they always looked out for me, especially Yokozawa."

Ritsu gulped and nodded, biting down the wanting to ask why he'd brought Yokozawa into conversation.

"The division between human and youkai is too thin for me; I am neither. That's why, if a human touched me, the energy that keeps me alive would break...and I'd die."

The words hit Ritsu on that instant. Every single one of them made fear invade his mind. "...That's why you never wanted me to touch you?" He asked, but he was unable to look at Takano; if he did his emotions would take over him and he'd feel tempted to hug the black haired.

"Even this name was given by the youkai of the forest; the name my parents gave...I cannot remember it."

Ritsu exhaled and took control of his emotions before finally looking at Takano. "Takano-san...thank you for telling me, it means alot." A small smile adorned his lips but he made no sign to move of place. A part of him wanted to stay there with Takano forever and tell him that he loved him, and yet another reminded him that he was only a mere human. "You know, if this were a normal conversation, I'd hug you right now for support." The teen admitted, laughing dryly.

"Do it."

Ritsu shot a look at Takano, asking silently if he was serious.

"Do it, I don't mind. I've lived for a long time." His answer was solemn. Before Ritsu could ask more, he cut him off. "Hey, are you free tonight?" He asked, looking at the blue sky; it seemed so peaceful...

"What?" The brunette asked, raising en eyebrow. "Why the sudden change in topic? You just said you-"

"Are you free or not?" The youkai repeated, louder this time.

"...Yes, I think so. Why?" Ritsu glanced up, mesmerized by the beauty of Takano's face. A heartbreaking feeling invaded his mind. Takano wasn't a human nor a youkai...he was just...

"Tonight there's a festival that the forest spirits do to imitate human festivals, and I was wondering if you'd come with me."

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me! I'm asking you to come with me to a festival as a date, Oda!"

"...Eh?"

Short chapter is short. 8|

So yeah, happy birthday to me; I am still not legal enough to but beer or tequila, though...ONE MORE YEAR AND I CAN!

I wrote this chapter on two days since school's getting the best of me (I failed computational logic and I'm forced to go to a regulatory course now), so I have no time -?-

Eniweis, I hope you liked it! (:

Gimme reviews as presents!