Warnings from first chapter still apply.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation. I don't even know Japanese. But I do know that I love Tatsuha! And Ryuichi!

Please Note: These are all one-shots. Each new addition has no connection to the other ones unless stated other wise.

Italics are emphasis.

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Alphabet Soup for the RyuTat Soul

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C is for Colds

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Maybe this will be easier than I thought...

Ryuichi glanced at the sleeping, blanket-covered lump on the couch for the second time. He tilted his head to the side curiously. Had it just moved? Ryuichi looked down at Kumagoro to see if his best friend had seen anything, but the cotton-candy bunny only shook his head.

Bouncing up and down in boredom, Ryuichi sighed softly. What was a baby-sitter supposed to do again? Tohma had told him that it would be fun, but so far it had just been a quiet and zero-fun kind of job.

Ryuichi froze in his bouncing when the lump-on-the-couch moved again before settling in a different position. Ryuichi frowned. He knew the lump-on-the-couch was supposed to be sick with some kind of cold, but why did he and Kumagoro have to sit here and watch it? It wasn't doing anything interesting or potentially illegal. So what was the point of this baby-sitting thing?

If only Tohma had been able to find someone else to watch Mika's youngest brother. Ryuichi would much rather be singing or working on a new song or coloring with Kumagoro...anything but this boring job...As a 21-year-old rising star, Ryuichi felt that he shouldn't have to spend his time watching over uninteresting lumps.

"Kuma, I'm bored..." Ryuichi whispered, pouting. He hated being bored. He couldn't even turn on the television or put on any music; he didn't want to risk waking up the lump-on-the-couch.

Kumagoro nodded his little bunny head in agreement, long ears swaying slightly. Ryuichi gave his best friend a small smile; at least he wasn't alone in his boredom.

He almost wished he was cruel enough to make a lot of noise, just so that the lump would wake up and Ryuichi would have something to do and someone to talk to, but the singer knew he would never do anything like that. If the lump-on-the-couch was sick then he needed rest, no matter how boring it was for Ryuichi.

Ryuichi had started to play with Kumagoro's ears when he had a distinct feeling that someone was watching him. Blinking curiously down at the pink bunny, Ryuichi concluded that it wasn't Kumagoro who was watching him, so...who was it?

Ryuichi looked up from studying Kumagoro, and his vivid blue eyes started to take in his surroundings before he stopped short.

Staring up at him in confusion were a pair of pretty, almost glittering, innocent obsidian eyes.

The lump had awoken.

The little boy was watching the older man curiously, and Ryuichi found himself staring back. He offered a smile. "Well, hello!" He greeted cheerfully. "I'm Ryuichi! It's nice to meet you!"

The dark-haired boy blinked, before the obsidian eyes were drawn towards the pinkness of Kumagoro.

Ryuichi gave a laugh. "Oh, and this is my best friend, Kumagoro." Kumagoro gave a small wave, causing the boy to smile. Ryuichi watched the other, intrigued by the young boy and his pretty eyes. Was it possible for young children to have such pretty eyes?

The obsidian-eyed boy glanced up at Ryuichi. "I'm Tatsuha...Why are you here?" He asked slowly, his voice confused. He looked even smaller being wrapped up in all of those blankets, rubbing at his eyes absent-mindedly. Ryuichi couldn't help but to smile at the sight.

"I'm here to take care of you, of course!" He exclaimed, Kumagoro nodding in agreement. Tatsuha blinked in surprise, before the boy started laughing.

Ryuichi stared at the young boy in confusion, not understanding what was wrong. He looked down at Kumagoro, but the pink bunny was just as puzzled. Ryuichi raised a hand, feeling his hair, wondering if maybe it was extremely messed up, but it wasn't any more messy than usual...He checked his face to see if maybe cheerios had gotten stuck on him again, but there was nothing but smooth skin. Maybe the boy's sickness had rendered him insane?

"They really believed me?" Tatsuha finally managed to say, a pleased grin on the young face. "Wow, I guess I acted better than I thought." The boy started laughing again.

Taken by surprise, Ryuichi frowned. "You mean...you're not really sick?" He asked, wondering how someone so young could be so devious. Ryuichi could never remember ever wanting to trick his parents like that when he was younger...

Tatsuha shook his head. "No. I just didn't want to go to that boring temple thing that they're going to." The dark-haired boy gave a soft laugh, close to a giggle.

Ryuichi sighed. He was here, wasting his time watching over a 'sick' child, all just because said child didn't want to do something the rest of his family was doing. Great, that was wonderful. How could someone so young cause so many problems?

Pausing in his laughter, Tatsuha looked over at Ryuichi, as if suddenly struck with a thought. "You're...not going to tell them are you?" He asked, his voice uncertain. The young boy gave Ryuichi a pleading look. The blue-eyed singer thought about actually telling the boy's family about his 'sickness', but one look at the sad obsidian eyes and almost begging expression, and Ryuichi's resolve crumbled instantly.

Shaking his head, Ryuichi gave a soft sigh, wondering how he got into this type of situation. "No...Your secret is safe with me." He told Tatsuha, smiling lightly. The boy's face lit up and he practically jumped out of his blankets just to give Ryuichi a thankful hug. Tatsuha's enthusiasm made Ryuichi grin and he could understand why an energetic boy like Tatsuha wouldn't want to be stuck with his family during some temple ritual. He knew that if he were Tatsuha's age, he wouldn't want to be forced to sit still for hours either.

Tatsuha pulled away from the older, and gave another smile, before his small hand took a hold of Ryuichi's and he tried to pull the other with him. "Come on! Let's play!"

Ryuichi hesitated for a minute. For some reason he had a sense of foreboding wash over him. As if the fates were trying to tell him that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. He decided not to worry about it and got up, letting the smaller pull him out of the room. He was certain that the new room they entered had to be Tatsuha's, considering the way there was tons of clothing scattered all over the floor, the bed was unmade, books lay piled up next to the bookshelf instead of actually being in their place. Ryuichi could only smile at the mess; it reminded him of his own room.

Tatsuha didn't give him much time to look around before the young boy was pulling more books off the shelf. He would look at the covers briefly, before throwing them on the floor as he went for a new one. Ryuichi wasn't sure what Tatsuha was looking for, and he wasn't going to ask. He had a feeling that if he said anything, one of those books might be thrown at him.

Finally, the boy must have found what he was looking for since he turned and gave Ryuichi a smile, before kicking all the unwanted books to the side. He sat down on the floor, patting the space beside him. Ryuichi laughed slightly, finding it somewhat amusing that the dark-haired boy was inviting him to color with him.

He hadn't colored in years. So why was the prospect of doing something so...childish suddenly so appealing?

Taking the offered seat, Ryuichi looked over at the page that Tatsuha was putting all of his concentration on. It was just a blank paper, and Tatsuha's messy marks quickly filled the page. Ryuichi wasn't sure what the boy was trying to make, but he decided not to worry about it as he took up his own paper.

A few minutes passed away in silence that was only broken by the sound of rustling paper and that of crayons moving along the pages. Tatsuha paused in his work, and glanced over to see what his new friend was doing.

"What are you drawing?" He asked, obsidian eyes full of curiosity. Ryuichi grinned, and held up his unfinished picture of Kumagoro.

Tatsuha frowned. "It's not very colorful." The boy stated, his voice almost sad. Ryuichi blinked, and glanced at his picture. He didn't think that it looked all that bad. Tatsuha gave him a smile before taking a hold of the picture and started scribbling all over it.

Not sure what to say, Ryuichi just watched as the younger continued to pick up what seemed like random crayons and filled every blank space on the page with bright colors. As Tatsuha finished, he handed the picture over to Ryuichi, a warm smile on the boy's lips. Glancing down at the picture, the singer found a smile of his own coming upon his features. Kumagoro was now a neon green bunny, with banana yellow arms and an orange bow.

"Do you like it?" At Ryuichi's nod, Tatsuha's smile became even bigger. "You've got to make everything around you shiny! It makes everyone happier."

Ryuichi stared over at the young boy, amazed by the wise words. How was it that a child could be so observant, and so sacrificing to want to make everyone around him happier? Smiling, Ryuichi shook his head in amusement. Tatsuha may have been young, but he was already more interesting than anyone the singer had ever met before.

"I'm going to marry you when I grow up." Tatsuha stated simply, a smile on his lips.

Ryuichi's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't have any time to say anything in response as Tatsuha started talking once again.

"My sister says that it's not right for two boys to be together...but I think that's because she saw Aniki kissing the boy from across the street and she was jealous cause she likes him. But she also said that you should only ever marry someone you really like! And I really really like you! So, when I grow up, can I marry you?"

The boy had said this all quickly in one breath and Ryuichi had problems trying to decipher what had been said. It was obvious that the boy was just trying to show his affection towards someone who he was having fun with. But it still made Ryuichi smile, even if he knew that Tatsuha was too young to really understand what he was saying.

"Sure," He agreed, nodding his head. "You can marry me if you don't find a nice girl that you like a lot better."

Tatsuha grimaced. "Ew, girls are gross."

Ryuichi laughed.

Suddenly, Tatsuha stood up, clutching at Ryuichi's hand. "Let's get something to eat!" The boy's obsidian eyes were almost sparkling, and Ryuichi allowed himself to be pulled along. At that moment, he didn't think there was anything he could have denied the younger boy.

It was a scary thought.

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Time had passed by too quickly, and Ryuichi was surprised at how disappointed he was when Tatsuha's family came home. The two of them had been coloring again, when they heard the front door open. Tatsuha didn't seem too pleased that his family was home either. The boy's animated talking came to an abrupt stop and his bright smile faded away.

Ryuichi gave the boy a smile of his own. "Don't be sad." He told the younger, giving him a quick hug. "Remember? You've got to be shiny." Tatsuha's expression lightened at that statement, and he got up to go greet his returning family.

Tohma came into the room soon after. He glanced around passively, taking in the sight of the crayons and scattered papers littering the floor. "Thank you for watching over Tatsuha for us, Ryuichi. I'm sure you would have rather been doing something better with your time."

Shaking his head, Ryuichi stood up. "No, I had a lot of fun with Tatsuha." He paused. "He's a really cute kid." He gave his best friend a small hug, promising to call later, before walking towards the exit. He could hear the sound of Tatsuha talking to his sister about what the two of them had done throughout the day. Apparently, no one seemed to remember that Tatsuha was supposed to be sick.

As he was putting on his shoes, he felt small arms wrapping around him in a tight hug. He returned the embrace, smiling.

Tatsuha pulled away slightly and handed him a sheet of paper. "Ryu-chan! You forgot your picture of Kuma!" The boy smiled. "He would feel lonely with out you!"

Laughing, Ryuichi took the picture. "Thank you, Tatsuha. I'll take good care of it. I've got to go now, before your sister kicks me out."

"Okay." Tatsuha's voice sounded distinctly less happy. "Bye, Ryu-chan. Will you come back sometime soon?" Obsidian eyes looked up at him, hopeful.

"Of course." Ryuichi promised, the tone of his voice reassuring. "I'll come back as soon as I can." Tatsuha's expression seemed to light up even more, and he gave the older another quick hug before going back to where he had left his sister.

As Ryuichi went to shut the door, he couldn't help but to overhear Tatsuha's excited chatter. "I'm going to marry him when I grow up!"

Mika's voice sounded annoyed. "Stop being silly, Tatsuha."

"No! It's true. Just wait and see! It will happen!"

Ryuichi closed the door, an amused smile gracing his lips.

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Tatsuha grinned over at him, looking at the paper in his hands. "And you thought I was merely just a kid with a childhood crush." The twenty-one year old leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Ryuichi's lips. "I guess I showed you just how serious I was."

Ryuichi laughed. "How was I supposed to know that a young boy would stay true to what he said over fifteen years ago?" He laughed again, before holding the warm body closer to his. He liked feeling close to Tatsuha, and hated whenever they were separated from each other.

"Well, you've learned your lesson now." Tatsuha continued, his voice smug. "Tomorrow's the big day."

Ryuichi nodded, his hold on Tatsuha tightening slightly. "I know. Are you scared? Having any second thoughts?"

Tatsuha's laugh filled the silent room. "Of course I'm not scared. And I'm definitely not having any second thoughts." Tatsuha shook his head, the amused smile still on his lips. "I've been waiting for this day for fifteen years. I'm not going to give up now." The dark-haired male leaned in for another kiss.

The old, slightly worn colored picture of Kumagoro lay forgotten.

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Complete

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A/N: Thank you for reading. I am trying to get caught up with some things, but they all take a considerable amount of time. I am trying my best though, for anyone who is still reading.

Next chapter: D is for Declare

Thanks again!

LuV