Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Silver Diamond or its characters. They are all the property of the artist, publishing company and their associated lawyers. I hold only the right to my own ideas and humbly make use of characters that were created before I got there that are just too good (or cute) to let go gently into that good night.

"I can not believe that you are making me wear this." Chigusa said while looking thoroughly miserable.

"Of course you're wearing it!" Shouted Kou. Kou of course is always shouting. It's just part and parcel of being a big mouthed snake.

Narushige just shook his head gently while looking at the two of them bicker. Once the two of them started in on "it chafes" and "shut up, you pansy," it was time to step outside the room. The beautiful man of the Shigeka family quietly slid the door closed and stepped down the hallway. As he walked, he reflected on what a long, strange story it's been to get him to this point in his life.

When he met Rakan-kun and developed such a strong sense of affection for him, he decided that he must protect Rakan's virtue at all costs from that pervert Senrou. Almost mother-like, Narushige would wrap his arms around Rakan whenever he was scared or sad. The trouble was that Senrou always butted in as well. Like all mothers, however, Narushige felt the wrenching loss as his "child" began to truly become the beautiful man he is today.

Their many hardships that they endured in their home world created the vibrant, empowered man that he could bring to the front of his mind as easily as he could recall his own reflection. Rakan-kun's kindness only made his presence all the more lovely to share. It was his kindness that drew every single of his devoted followers to his side. The power of a sanome only made him more interesting and helpful. Rakan's beauty brought him followers in that other world, although Narushige noted that almost none of the people on that other world were close to the child of his heart. Perhaps it was that they sensed something different about Rakan or maybe it was Rakan himself who subconsciously kept them away.

His musings were interrupted at this point by a surprisingly emotional Senrou stomping into the room.

"I don't need all this!" He shouted to no one and everyone. "Tell that damn earthworm to leave me alone about my 'big night'!"

"I'm helping you, you big dumb pervert!" fumed the snake following on Chigusa's heels.

"Kou, leave him alone for now." Narushige said very quietly in an almost hypnotic voice. "Look at it this way. If he hurts Rakan-kun, you can poison him." This statement left an almost smile on the immobile reptilian face.

Senrou walked more sedately from the room, all the while removing the stupid effluvia of this shallow world. Calmly he tore the hair pieces into tiny little shreds, feeling much better with each vibrating tear. The outfit that Kou insisted on already lay in two halves on the floor and Chigusa strode naked down the hallway to his room to change into something comfortable.

Narushige gestured to Kou. Kou slithered up Naurshige's slim form and snuggled gently around his neck. In an uncharacteristically quiet voice, Kou said, "Do you think they'll ever manage it?"

Narushige shrugged gently so as not to dislodge Kou. "I'm not sure. Senrou's of two minds as you know. He's torn between duty and love." His gentle voice began to fade as they walked to the door, slid it aside, and stepped outside. He lifted a hand to greet a returning Rakan-kun as he entered the door yard. Giving Rakan a very secretive smile, he and Kou left on their trip to a bewildering something or other the people of this world called a 'mall.'

Rakan was exhausted from his day and very tiredly sat on the step to remove his shoes in the entranceway instead of standing in his energetic way. He then changed his shoes and immediately went outside to take care of his pet jungle. Rakan always did get a little boost from communing with the plants. Well he should after all. He was a sanome. After noticing a few new plants that he had never seen before, he made a mental note to look them up in his books from both this world and the next to see if he could find out what they were. He never did have a problem remembering the shape of a leaf or the exact curl of a trailing vine. Each plant was as individual to him as each person's face.

Feeling a little better, he came back to the entranceway and took off his gardening shoes. Stepping into the house proper with his blindingly white socks on, he called out for Touji. No answer was returned. Knowing that Kou and Narushige were out and about, that left only one possibility if anyone was in the house.

"Chigusa-san?" he called. No answer at all.

Now that was really odd. Normally the guys didn't leave his house completely unprotected. He started to peek around corners and look into rooms thinking maybe they were going to play a trick on him and jump out to frighten him. After two rooms, he thought better of the idea and stepped toward the kitchen to make himself some well-deserved tea. Once the tea was made, he dug out some Western-style crisps that he had created yesterday as an experiment and placed them on the serving tray. He placed the tray and its contents on his low table and then knelt on the flat cushion in preparation for some major chow-down. He bent his head over his clasped hands as he offered thanks before his meal and then dug in.

"Oh my I can't stand it." thought Rakan's watcher. "His narrow little back is so cute that I just want to eat him up." The watcher crept forward until he was silently kneeling just behind Rakan. Even though he was this close, his quiet approach prevented Rakan's notice.

A trembling hand extended from the watcher. "What the hell am I frightened of?" he cursed himself mentally. "I've touched him plenty of times. Why is this time different?" He finally made the hand, well hands now that both were out, touch the small waist of the man in front of him.

Rakan immediately stiffened his posture and slowly turned his head. As soon as he saw that it was Chigusa, he relaxed his body back to its previous position. However when he really took a good look at Chigusa's face, he stopped the progress of the crisp to his mouth and placed it on the plate instead.

"What's wrong, Chigusa-san?" he asked the man with the pained expression.

Senrou couldn't answer. He just stared at Rakan like he had never truly seen him before. The sanome's beauty seemed to have struck him dumb. He looked at his face like he was searching a map for hidden treasure. How could he have ever thought that Rakan looked like that horrible ayame-prince? It's plain for anyone with eyes to see that the kindness of those light brown eyes and the expressive mouth that is used to smiling are so far removed from the prince's face that it was as if they were on two different mountains. When he thought about their first meeting and that he had almost killed this man in front of him - this beautiful, expressive, kind, warm man.

Chigusa widened his dark eyes so that the tears would not leak out. The surface emotions were the downside of his reawakening with Rakan's help. He not only could feel emotion now, but he felt all of them intensely as if they were making up for lost time. His skin had become supersensitive over time to light touches as well with the reawakening of sensation.

"…. wrong?" he heard Rakan ask him again. It was the sound of his voice and the gentle, pale hand touching the side of his face that brought Senrou back to his surroundings. Still he could not speak. Instead he gently grasped the hand touching his face and stood up, making it clear that Rakan should follow.

Rakan, very worried now, stood up to face the man in the pale green yukata. Even though he was worried about Chigusa-san, he took the time to appreciate that the pale green set off the dark greenish highlights in Chigusa-san's hair to perfection. He became very embarrassed by his thoughts. He owed this man his life many times over. He should definitely not be ogling him like a Johnny tarento idol.

Rakan looked away from the man in front of him and blushed. His concern for Chigusa-san brought his attention back to the taller man's face in just a few moments however. Chigusa-san had the most unusual look on his face. He seemed almost pained and frightened and a couple of other things that Rakan could not identify. And yet, he would not answer Rakan's questions about what was wrong with him. At one point, it didn't even look as if Chigusa-san could even hear him. Rakan firmed his resolve that he was going to help Chigusa-san in whatever he needed just so he could get the hurting to leave the marksman's face.

It was with that decision, that Rakan followed Chigusa-san as his hand was being tugged forward and they both went silently down the hallway.

Not sure how far this one's going to go, but please review. There will be at least one more chapter to this so worry not. I will have much more … um… involved scenes in chapter 2. Please review and thank you ahead of time! I take suggestions and criticism well so please if you have some ideas, I'm glad to hear them.