Many apologies for taking so long to write this chapter! I got a new job offer and had to move halfway across the state -phew- I'm exhausted. Not even completely unpacked yet but I finally have time to sit down and get some writing done.

And this story is coming along pretty silly and cute, I'm enjoying writing it and hate that I stepped away for a few weeks!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews and follows so far!

Yukio knew he could never go so far as to tamper with his brother's phone, as much as he wanted to at that moment, but that wouldn't stop him from definitely protecting Rin "Freakin' perverted, lousy..." He mumbled and growled under his breath as he softly placed the mobile phone beside his brother's bed before laying down to sleep. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he felt so angry.

Usually Rin slept heavily through the night but he managed to roll off the bed and hit the floor with a 'thud'. "Gah!" He screamed, jumping to his feet straight into a fighting stance as if someone had hit him. "Huh?" He glanced around the dark room only to hear Yukio mumble from his bunk, "Keep it down will ya, it's the middle of the night."

"Oh, right ahah sorry!" Rin scratched the back of his and laughed before suddenly remembering that he'd missed a text from Shima earlier that evening. 'Shima.' His stomach turned thinking about what had happened the previous day. 'Why am I so bothered? It's not like we're dating or...' His thoughts stopped abruptly as he flipped his phone open and read the text. 'Dating... dating... DATE?!' He quickly threw his phone down on his bed. 'Okay, deep breaths, think about it, he couldn't have really meant date, like romantically, right?' He replayed the texts in his head.

'Sorry, just kidding! I was joking about everything, but I was a jerk and didn't stop to consider how it would make you feel at all.

I hope you let me make it up to you!'

'I must have really hurt you, I'm sorry Okumura.

Hopefully I can climb up a little higher on your cool list if you let me make things better! Maybe I can even bring strawberry pocky again! Heheh.

Will you go on a date with me?'

"DATE!" Rin accidentally shouted out loud, receiving an irritated groan from his brother. "Oh sorry!" He lowered his voice to a whisper, jumping back onto his bed and snatching up his phone before staring at the screen for a long time.

'It's okay... i'm kind of glad you were just joking, that's not weird is it? But sure, let's go on a date tomorrow! -happy smiley face-'

Rin let out a small sigh, 'I've never been on a real date before, what if I mess things up?' He groaned, ruffling hair hair with both hands before curling up into a ball under his blankets, giving into sleep.

Rin walked towards his burning school, flames lashed up into the sky, smoke filling his lungs. Even as he choked on the scent he continued to walk forward, he knew he had to save everyone. The walls crumbled around him by the time he reached the center of the school. A familiar form walked out from the desolated, charred building, a golden staff gleaming in his hand.

"Shima... why?" Rin muttered weakly as he fell to his knees.

"I want to watch it all burn." Shima walked forward, extending a hand to the half demon. "Come with me. I'll end your suffering."

Rin felt his entire body tremble as he slowly reached up, taking his friend's hand. 'I'll save you, Shima.'

Rin's eyes shot open as he jumped from his bed, he struggled for a moment to catch his breath as relief rushed over his body. 'Ahh what the heck? What a strange dream...' But there was no time to think about how frightening the nightmare had been, he had more important things to worry about, such as: "What the hell do I even wear for a date?!"

Luckily Yukio was already gone so he had free access to be noisy and tear through all his clothes in search of something to wear. "Why do I own so many freakin' button up shirts?!" He stopped as he pulled out his beloved blue hoodie, he stared for a moment before shrugging and putting it on. He didn't even have time to cook before his phone was vibrating, alerting him to a new text.

'I'm outside.'

The halfling choked for a second, "Already?" He pocketed his mobile phone before running full speed to his dorm entrance, flinging the doors open. There stood Shima in his low cut, V-neck shirt and black pants, smiling peacefully as he greeted his flustered friend, "Yo!"

Yukio stood around the side of the dorm, just out of sight, watching the two. Unfortunately he couldn't see much from his angle so he swiftly moved around to duck down behind a nearby bush. He gasped as his eyes met with Bon's, and the mohawked boy quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him down. Konekomaru sat beside the two, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Shhh, keep it down, we're tryin' ta see who Shima's datin'. But it seems Rin's in cahoots with 'im, it must be a double date, this'll be interestin'! Wait... why're ya here anyway?" Bon whispered quietly. Yukio gave Bon a look as if he were crazy before slowly responding, "I'm also watching Rin to see... who he's dating..." Yukio half lied, 'I'm surrounded by idiots.'

"They're gone!" Koneko suddenly spoke out loud, jumping to his feet. And sure enough the two were no where to be seen.

"Dammit!" Yukio jumped to his feet, irritated with the situation at hand. He pulled out his phone and quickly sent a text.

'I came home to see you aren't here, let me know where you'll be today please, you know you can't just wander off without telling anyone.'

"That should work..." Yukio spoke softly as Bon was lecturing Koneko for letting the two out of sight.

Rin was stepping into the back of a Taxi as his phone vibrated, he rolled his eyes as he checked his texts. "Yukio needs to know where i'm going, seriously he's like a parent."

Shima laughed softly, but as he thought about it he definitely didn't want to tell the crazy twin where he was taking his brother on a date. "I figured we could go eat at this little ramen shop I can't quite remember the name of, so we shouldn't be gone too long." He said reassuringly.

Rin responded to his brother:

'I don't know some ramen place, see ya later.'

He then shut his phone off, he didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the day and he knew Yukio would be calling any second demanding to know the name of the place. What a nuissance.

Of course Yukio was already freaking out over the short response, immediately attempting to call his brother only to have it go straight to voicemail. "That brat! Bon, Koneko, let's split up. They're headed to a ramen shop, there's only a handful of them in town, we'll track them down."

Bon couldn't help but laugh, "I've never seen ya act like this, I could like ya more if ya were always this excitin'!"

After shutting off his phone, Rin glanced nervously as Shima who was sitting beside him in the taxi, staring out the window. "O-Oi Shima?" He said tentatively, "I've never been on a d-d-date before..." His face turned bright red as he became suddenly very fidgety.

Shima couldn't help but smile at this, peeling his eyes from the window and glancing over at the smaller boy. He couldn't help but think about how delicate he looked, how small his frame was as he reached over and set his hand on the halfling's shoulder, causing him to yelp nervously. Shima laughed at his reaction, "Don't be so nervous! It's just a lunch date, ya know?"

"L-l-lunch date?" Rin tried to gather his thoughts but they were all scrambled together as the car came to a stop. The two exited the car and went inside to eat. Much to Rin's dismay, Shima was acting like he always had. 'Maybe I over thought everything?' Rin began to push his food around on his plate before glancing up at the pink haired boy who was cheerfully devouring his food. "I'm sorry... about how I acted yesterday." Rin spoke softly.

"Huh?" Shima glanced up. "Yesterday? Oh no no, you shouldn't be saying sorry for anything, I'm sorry I... upset you." Shima set down his chopsticks with a small sigh. "I don't have a girlfriend or anything like that..." Rin was relieved by his response, letting out a sigh as well before starting to speak, "Well, what about..."

He was cut off as Shima nearly choked on his drink, spitting some out. Just over Rin's shoulder he could see not only Yukio, but Bon and Koneko as well, across the street seemingly arguing over something. "Let's get out of here, come with me." The pink haired exwire jumped to his feet, throwing yen down onto the table and grabbing Rin's hand.

Rin gasped at the contact, his face turning red as the boy escorted him out the side door of the restaurant. He watched the exwire glance around as he quickly led him behind the building, winding through alley ways before finally stopping to catch their breath. "Where are we going?" Rin panted as he let go of the boy's hand, glancing around.

"Just uhhh... somewhere more private!" Shima had no excuse really for dragging Rin into a small alley behind a bunch of buildings, but he really didn't want to deal with everyone in his class interrupting their only time alone together. He watched as Rin had a confused look plastered on his face, turning around to glance around at his surroundings, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. He stared at his tail for a brief moment longer before snickering under his breath, 'I've always wanted to do this.' He thought just as Rin went to turn to face him he grabbed his tail. "Gotcha!"

Rin suddenly jumped and let out a scream, causing Shima to release him and laugh hysterically. "What the hell was that for?!" Rin demaded as he growled at the boy. Shima waved his hand in front of his face, trying to calm his laughter "Nothing really, I wanted to see what you'd do, you have such a cute little scream."

Rin's face turned the brightest shade of red possible, "I-It's not CUTE!" He was trying to sound angry but he was far too embarrassed, he took a few steps back as Shima approached him and let out a soft yelp as his back pressed into the wall behind him. Shima was still smiling, completely amused by his reaction, "But what if I were to do this?" He lowered his voice, their bodies just inches apart he reached behind the smaller boy, one hand gently gripping the base of his tail, the other grabbing the furry tip of it.

Rin let out a quiet gasp, closing his eyes, he'd never experienced anything quite like that before. Shima brushed his fingers over the end of his tail, running his fingertips down it's length very slowly, watching the halflings response. Rin's body began to tremble at the new sensation of having his tail played with, he gently reached up to rest his hands on the taller boy's shoulders before raising his head up to make eye contact.

Shima smiled happily down at the halfling, feeling fairly accomplished with himself. 'Ahh what's with this face he's making, it's too cute! Adorable, Okumura, keep making that face for me!' Rin panted softly before speaking in a husky voice "Sh-Shima." He let out a small moan before suddenly pressing their bodies together and grabbing the back of Shima's shirt, leaning his weight against him.

'Oh shit.' Shima hesitated and released his grip on him as Rin buried his face into his shirt. He glanced down at the smaller boy's tail, 'If I keep doing this it's going to be really bad, should I stop?' Shima was blushing at that point, his heart racing and he had to do everything in his power to calm his breathing, as he took a slow breath inward and reached out once more to softly brush his fingers against the base of the halfling's tail. "A-ah!" Rin made small sounds into Shima's shirt, and the pink haired exwire could feel Rin's breath against his skin, making his throat feel hot.

Shima exhaled, leaning his head down to rest his lips against Rin's soft hair, he couldn't help but think about how nice he smelled, how good it felt to be this close. He closed his eyes, slumping his back against the wall and pulling Rin down to the ground, leaving Shima sitting up with the half demon panting softly in his lap. Shima brought his hand up and pressed it against Rin's jaw, rubbing his thumb against his cheek, he paused for a brief moment before leaning forward.

Their lips were nearly touching, Shima could feel Rin's hot breath brushing against his mouth. He could feel a fire in him flicker, blaze, then dull over and over, enough to drive him insane. He wanted to feel Rin's mouth against his, to taste him, he wanted him completely to himself.

"RIN! Where the hell are you hiding?!" Yukio's shout suddenly broke through Shima's thoughts, and before their lips could touch Rin was frantically scrambling to his feet, the fur on his tail bristled up like that of a frightened cat.

"Dammit Yukio, why would you follow me here?!" Rin half screamed in frustration as his brother rounded the corner, leaving Rin storming towards him angrily. Shima couldn't help but laugh at the situation as he still sat on the ground, the two brothers arguing ruthlessly in the distance. His laughing faltered as he glanced down at his pants, his blush returned to his face as he suddenly covered up the bulge that had formed there. He hung his head in shame, sighing "Oh man, that was too close for comfort." And while he wanted to continue to laugh at the situation he couldn't help but think to himself, 'What is this feeling... It can't be, is this what it's like... to like someone?'

By the time Yukio and Rin wrapped up their argument Shima was calling for a Taxi to head back to the school campus. "Later, Okumura!" He waved with at the small half demon before smiling at Yukio and waving to him as well. He hated saying bye like that but he knew Yukio would just drag him back to his own dorm after all the events that had happened that day, plus Shima felt he also needed to clear his own thoughts.

Shima couldn't help but feel a little relieved once the Taxi had arrived to pick him up, he had no idea how he was going to face Rin the next day, nor did he want to think about how awkward it might be. He did realize, however, that at that moment he was thinking more about Rin than he ever had anyone in his entire life. Sure he'd been on dates before, and girls asked him out pretty frequently, but something about Rin had him completely flustered and confused. He hated the feeling of not being in control of himself and his thoughts, and with that he decided he definitely did not want to go to class the next morning.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write! If I made any typos I apologize, I haven't had much time to edit this!

As always pwease review, and now that i'm moved into the new place i'll be much quicker with updates!