Hello everyone. This fanfic is much shorter than my previous one. Anyway enjoy! HotsuXShu for the world! ^^

Chapter 1: Fragile Emotions

On one of the usual fine mornings, the Zweilt pair, Renjo Hotsuma and Usui Shusei were walking to school together. Hotsuma, as usual was yawning and stretching his arms. His best friend and partner, Shusei just smiled in his direction.

"Were you up playing games again?" Shusei smiled.

"No. It's not that. I'm just not really a morning person." Hotsuma replied grumpily.

Shusei just smiled at his partner and stared back to the front of the road. They reached school a few minutes later and walked to the different directions of their classrooms. Hotsuma stared at the back of his partner as Shusei walked to the second year block. He scowled when he saw a few girls blushing at the sight of the God's Eyes. Many of them said "Morning, Usui-kun." Hotsuma gave another scowl of displeasure and headed to his own classroom in the first year block. He sat down on his seat, which was at the back of the classroom and leaned his head and arms on the table. He closed his eyes, wanting to catch a quick nap before the bell rang but the sound of the girls giggling in his class prevented him to do so. He frowned. 'Shut up you stupid girls! Stop being so noisy in the morning!' he thought. However, the girls' conversation caught his attention.

"What are you guys going to do on Valentine's Day tomorrow?"

"My boyfriend is going to bring me on a date after school!" one of the girls squealed.

"Really? I'm jealous…..you are so lucky…. My boyfriend didn't even make any plans with me yet."

"Are you going to give Valentine chocolates to anyone?" another girl asked.

"I don't know! I want to give it to my crush but I'm too scared to do it!" another girl squealed.

"Ooooo….who is your crush? Is he in our school?"

"Yeah! But I'm too scared to even go talk to him. He is so popular."

"Popular…..wait…let me guess. Is it Usui Shusei in second year?" another girl said.

"Shhhhhh…..Mina-chan!" the girl said.

Hotsuma guessed that they had just realized that Shusei was his best friend.

"Shhh….Renjo-kun is friends with Usui-senpai!" the girl whispered.

"Oopss…sorry but don't worry… I don't think he heard us. He is asleep." The girl called Mina whispered back.

Hotsuma opened his eyes under his arms, which were leaning against the table. He frowned slightly.

'Shusei is so popular…even among the first year girls. Well, it's no surprise. He is always gentle and polite to everyone, and he has good looks. Besides, he's also in the student committee so he is pretty well known in school.' He thought. Hotsuma felt a deep lump down his throat.

'Shusei treats everyone kindly, even someone like me. Am I really special to him? We are Zweilt partners but it doesn't clear things up. I don't understand…how can someone like me be someone special in his life? I didn't do anything special to him too. It makes me feel so lonely when I think like that.' Hotsuma thought again.

The school bell then rang. Hotsuma slowly sat back straight in his chair and took out his books and stationery from his bag. The class started to fill in and he waved at Yuki, the Wielder of God's Light, who was also another good friend of his.

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The lunch bell rang. Hotsuma got up and went out of the classroom. He stopped halfway at the corridor and wondered whether he should go find Shusei. He decided to check on his partner, and then headed to the second year block.

He stopped outside class II-I and saw that the classroom door was opened. He stared inside the class and saw his partner sitting on his seat. There were also a few of his classmates around him. Shusei saw Hotsuma outside the classroom and waved at him. Hotsuma blinked as every one of them turned their gaze to him. Shusei signaled him to come in and he entered and walked to the front of his seat.

"Usui-kun. Is this a friend of yours?" One of the girls asked.

"Yeah." Shusei smiled.

"Shusei…are you going to eat?" Hotsuma asked, interrupting them.

"Yeah, just a quick bite cause I have some committee work to do." Shusei smiled.

"I see….so you will be eating with your classmates then?"

"I suppose so." Shusei replied.

"Ok. Then I'll excuse myself." Hotsuma said coolly and turned and walked towards the door. He closed the classroom door gently.

"Eh? Usui-kun your friend doesn't really like to hang around other people does he?" Hotsuma heard one of the girls asked.

"He is probably just shy. Don't worry about it." Shusei said.

Hotsuma heard that and felt the loneliness in his heart eating him away. He didn't blame Shusei because he knew that his best friend was in a different year and class with him. He walked to the café, bought a tuna sandwich and went outside the school compound. He sat down on one of the benches outside and opened the wrapper around the sandwich. He looked up at the sky and munched his sandwich. He finished his food pretty quickly and aimed for the dustbin nearby and threw it in.

"Hotsuma." he heard someone calling him from the back.

Hotsuma removed his gaze from the sky and turned his head back. Shusei was standing behind him.

"Shusei, what's wrong? What are you doing here?" Hotsuma asked in a slightly confused voice. Didn't Shusei have work to do?

"Are you alright? You weren't looking well when you came to my class." Shusei said, looking very concerned.

Hotsuma felt warm inside. He was happy at his partner's concern.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about some stuff." Hotsuma smiled. Shusei went forward and took a seat next to him.

"Didn't you have work to do?" Hotsuma asked.

"Yeah…but I wanted to check on you first. You didn't seem yourself today. Anything you want to talk about?" Shusei asked and stared at Hotsuma's side profile.

Hotsuma looked back up onto the sky. He did have a few questions for Shusei but it was really random ones. He sighed and turned to his partner.

"Yeah, there is a question I've been wanting to ask you. You aren't going out with anyone now right? Do you like anyone right now?" Hotsuma asked in a straight face. Shusei blinked. He wasn't expecting that kind of question.

"Who do I like? What is this, all of a sudden?" Shusei asked, raising one perfect eyebrow.

"Just curious, that's all. I know that you don't talk much about your relationships so if you don't want to tell then it's fine." Hotsuma said but deep within his heart, he wanted to know.

"Well….there is someone. But I don't think this person sees me as anything more than a friend." Shusei smiled.

"Really? Hmph! I find it hard to believe since you are so popular in school. So this person that you like is a friend of yours?" Hotsuma asked again, but this time, he felt his jealousy boiling over. It didn't make him happy that Shusei had another special person in his heart.

"Yeah. A very good friend of mine." Shusei said silently.

"If you feel that way, why don't you just confess to this person?" Hotsuma said and this time, he stared into the God's Eyes. He quickly turned away after a while because he felt like Shusei could see through him sometimes. And he didn't want Shusei to know about his special feelings for him. Not when Shusei is talking about his own crush.

"Confess….it's not easy to confess to the person you love, Hotsuma."

"Really? But then if your feelings don't go across to this person, won't she be taken away from you?" Hotsuma said. He immediately cursed himself after spilling this line. 'What the hell am I doing helping him solve his love problems? At this rate, he might just go ahead and get himself the girl he wants! Bahhh! I'm such an idiot!' he scolded himself in his mind.

"I suppose you do have a point. Anyway, we will see how it goes. Thanks for your advice, Hotsuma." Shusei smiled and stood up.

"I need to go do my committee work now so I'll see you after school." The God's Eyes and walked back towards the school compound. When Shusei had left, Hotsuma immediately covered his face with his hands.

'SHIT! WHAT THE F**K HAVE I DONE? OH MY GOD! I WAS ONLY CURIOUS TO KNOW WHO HE LIKES AND NOW I'VE HELPED HIM INSTEAD! I AM REALLY THE BIGGEST IDIOT IN THE WORLD!' Hotsuma thought and gripped his hair. 'Tch! Wait a minute. Why am I getting so worked up? It sounds like as though I'm jealous of the other girl. Wait a minute, jealous? Why should I be jealous? Unless…..unless I love him? OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT THE HELL?' Hotsuma shook his head, his blond hair falling on his eyes. He bent his head down from the bench and stared at the ground beneath him.

"I'm in such a mess. Why the hell am I thinking stuff like that? Shusei is my Zweilt partner, and also my childhood friend. He is important and special to me. So isn't it normal to feel a little jealous at the person that he likes?" he mumbled softly.

'But aren't you already in love with him? Can you really bear to see him date another girl?' a small voice in his head said.

Hotsuma gave another sigh and he lied down on the bench, his hands behind his head. The sky looked so blue. It was so peaceful and he enjoyed looking at the sky, especially at night when it was filled with stars. He remembered that he and Shusei would always stare at the night sky together, stargazing. Hotsuma blinked again. 'Shoot! Why am I thinking of Shusei again?' he thought.

'Because you are in love with him.' The small voice in his head said again.

Hotsuma quickly got up, took a deep breath and went back to school compound. He looked at his watch and noticed that it was February the 13th. Tomorrow would be Valentine's Day. He narrowed his eyes, wondering why the heck was he bothered about a day for lovers. He stopped his tracks as he was walking; He is not looking forward to tomorrow since Shusei will probably received a lot of chocolates from his admirers. He might even confess to the person he liked on the day as well. Both of Hotsuma's hands clenched into fists. 'Shit….this sucks. I have to do something.' He said to himself and walked back to his classroom.

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Back in the Twilight Mansion, Hotsuma came back alone without Shusei since Shusei had student committee work to do. Hotsuma came through the front door and went to his room. He threw his bag and his blazer and tie onto the floor and fell onto his bed. 'Who does Shusei like? I can't demand him to tell me or he might get suspicious. Shoot! Shall I go look around in his room?' Hotsuma thought. He then quickly changed out of his school uniform and went into Shusei's room. He opened the door and went in. It was neat, unlike his room and there were a lot of books stacked neatly on his study table. Hotsuma just stare around. 'Where should I start looking?' he thought. He didn't like to go through Shusei's stuff without his permission, but he was more desperate to find out any clues or leads on whom he likes. Hotsuma opened a few notebooks and it was nothing but math and science notes which confused Hotsuma even more. He opened the two drawers under his desk and it was filled with papers and stationery. Hotsuma flipped through the papers. He found nothing suspicious. It was all schoolwork and student committee notes.

After searching around for an hour, he sighed and leaned back against the chair. He looked at his watch. 'Shoot! He is going to be back any moment. I better get out of here.' He thought. Hotsuma pushed the chair back and made sure the books were stacked up the original position again. He turned the doorknob and then walked out, feeling exhausted.

Hotsuma went back to his room and lay down on his unmade bed. He closed his eyes and put his arm on top of his face. He tried to sleep but he was too anxious. Knowing that his partner is in love with someone else bothers him more than he thought. After a short while, he decided to take a cold shower to freshen himself up. Hotsuma stood under the shower for a long while, his mind forming a plan.

He went out of the bathroom and changed back into the clothes that he was wearing. His hair was drenched and he rubbed his hair dry with the towel. Not bothering to comb it, he hanged the towel behind the door and went out to the living room.

Shusei was not back yet and Hotsuma was bored. 'I'm bored. Sheesh….Shusei…..what time are you coming home?' Hotsuma said in his mind. But on the other hand, he didn't really think that his heart was ready to see Shusei yet after he found out about his own feelings of love for him. Everyone else was hanging around in the living room. Toko looked over to the blond haired teen and raised an eyebrow.

"You're pretty quiet today, Hotsuma. What's wrong? Are you lovesick or something?" she said.

Hotsuma felt his heart rate increase at hearing the 'l-o-v-e' word. He glared at Toko's direction.

"Watch what you are saying…."

"Oh? Then why are you so quiet? It's not normal. Are you that bored without Shusei here?"

"I'm just thinking about something. Be quiet and continue in whatever you are doing." Hotsuma scowled.

Toko ignored him after that and continued watching TV. They heard the front door close and Shusei walked into the living room.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back." Everyone said.

"Good timing, Shusei. Hotsuma here is getting bored without you around." Toko said.

"WHO IS BORED? STOP ADDING WORDS TO MY MOUTH!" Hotsuma said again in a loud voice. He then walked over to Shusei.

"Hey, welcome back. How was your work?" he asked.

"It was ok. Just the usual reports that we have to hand in." Shusei answered. He then head towards his room and Hotsuma followed him in.

"Sheesh. Don't overdo with your work! You look totally exhausted." Hotsuma grumbled and folded his arms. Shusei turned and gave a tired smile.

"Do I really look that tired?" Shusei asked.

"I don't need to see your expression to know that. Any person that stays in school from morning till before dinner would be dead exhausted!" Hotsuma said.

He looked at his best friend as Shusei took out a clean set of clothes and towel.

"Would you like to nap a bit first? I can ask them to save you some dinner." Hotsuma suggested.

"I definitely need to shower first. As for dinner, maybe I'll nap first before eating." Shusei smile.

"Sure…..I'll go tell the chef then." Hotsuma said and he headed towards the door.

"Thanks, Hotsuma." Shusei said before going into the bathroom.

"Sure." Hotsuma mumbled. 'Tch, you idiot! One day I'm going to burn down that stupid committee!' the fiery teen thought.

Hotsuma walked to the kitchen where Toma, Yuki and Aya were preparing dinner. Hotsuma stood at the doorway and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets.

"Hey Toma, can you possibly save up some dinner for Shusei? He won't be eating now but later."

"Sure," the chef said. Yuki stopped chopping the vegetables and looked up at Hotsuma.

"Is Shusei-kun alright?" The God's Light asked.

"Yeah, he is fine. Just a little tired, that's all. Don't worry, I'll make sure he stuff some food into his stomach! He is already thin enough as it is." The blond haired Zweilt said.

"Hotsuma-kun, you really love Shusei-kun, right?" Yuki smiled and he continue to prepare the food.

Hotsuma blinked, slightly taken back. "Yeah, I suppose I do. He is my partner after all. And he understands me better than anyone does." Hotsuma smiled and headed back towards Shusei's room. He opened the door gently and saw Shusei lying in bed, asleep.

'Wow, that was quick. He must be really tired.' Hotsuma thought. Quietly, he went inside and closed the door behind him. He went to the bed and sat down on it gently without waking Shusei up. "You really are an idiot! Why do you always keep yourself so busy in school when you have to always visit the police department?" Hotsuma whispered. He stared at his sleeping partner, noticing a few more things about his face. Shusei had beautiful long eyelashes that were partly hidden behind the straight silky brown fringe. His face was a perfect oval and he looked beautiful.

'That Ashley said that he would make a perfect sleeping doll. In a way I do agree with her.' Hotsuma thought. He unfolded the blanket and covered Shusei with it, keeping him warm. Hotsuma look another glance at his sleeping face. He could hear his partner's quiet regular breathing from his mouth and nose. Hotsuma brushed his cheeks with the back of his fingers and gently removed a lock of hair from his face. He bent down slightly till his face were only inches away from the sleeping partner. Hotsuma suddenly realized what he was doing and immediately withdrew his head back. He breathed out slowly and quickly got up from the bed and went outside from the room.

That's all for Chapter 1! Please review! xD