There are people in this world who claim to love it best when it's raining outside. Those people are the ones who probably have a car and don't have to walk Yukiteru muses. It was pretty unlucky that the weather had to be so awful on grocery day, of all days, but that just seemed to be the way things worked for him.

The rain is heavy too; beating down on his thin umbrella harshly. The wait outside the Preschool seemed to take much longer when trying not to get yourself soaked. Yukiteru hesitantly shifted himself a little closer towards the steadily growing crowd of parents huddled under the arched roof the doors lay under.

Reisuke would be out soon. It wouldn't be long before the little boy came bouncing out the thin glass doors and threw himself into the teenaged boy's arms; just like every other day. He'd have to help put on little froggy raincoat before they began their trip to the store; it wouldn't be good if the four year old were to get sick.

The boy felt a shiver crawl down his spine; leaving a trail of goosebumps in their path. He shifted and pulled his jacket tighter around himself. Maybe it would be a good idea to make something warm for dinner tonight. Reisuke would probably enjoy some stew and maybe dessert.

He glanced towards the garden hedges surrounding the schoolground. The pleasantly pink flowers had begun their slow journey into wilting under the autumn cool. It wouldn't be long now before the petals were completely browned and crumbling. The heavy raindrops didn't help the poor things; causing some of the still healthy petals to collapse under the weight and fall to the ground. It was a hypnotic sight; almost therapeutic in a way.

The hedges shifted and Yukiteru felt another shiver. What was taking that Afterschool teacher so long?

He'd apparently didn't need to ask. While he was distracted by the flowers Reisuke had, apparently, been released from Afterschool care and made his way from the classroom and straight into a seemingly perfect opportunity to initiate a surprize hug on his babysitter's legs. Yukiteru looked at the absolutely pleased expression on the child's face and couldn't help but find it adorable. It was hard not to keep a smile on his face when Reisuke looked so cute wearing a little raincoat and smiling up at the older boy like that. Yukiteru hesitantly reached down and pat the child's head. "Hey Reisuke; how was school today?"

The toddler glanced up; his cute smile transforming into a smirk. "Too easy."

Yukiteru let the mild concern he felt at such an expression melt away; half used to such things from the child by now. He kneeled down a little and took the child's hand in his own. "That's nice. Are you ready to go grocery shopping?"

"Yea!" Reisuke cheered. The little boy pulled Yukiteru down the direction towards the closest store to their home. Probably eager to bully the burnet into buying him some candy. Though Yukiteru felt more inclined to prepare a nicer dessert for the boy tonight. Some pie would probably be good after stew.

Another shiver ran through the high schooler's spine. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, but there was nothing there. Probably just rainy chill again. He should've worn a thicker jacket.

Yukiteru tightened his grip on Reisuke's hand and hastened his pace. They should get out of this rain as soon as possible; it couldn't be good for Reisuke to run around in this cold. How far away was the store from here? He studied the surrounding street; another corner or so and they'd be there. That's good; this rain was getting real bad.

A series of splashing sounds came from somewhere behind him before coming to a sudden stop. Someone must a dropped something in their rush to find shelter.

Yukiteru adjusted his umbrella and reached to wrap his, now somewhat free, hand around the four year old's waist and hoist him up. Reisuke gave a squeal of delight as the teenager sat the child on his hip; keeping his arm firmly around the child's waist. The hand Reisuke had been holding was promptly dropped in favor of Yukiteru's shoulder; leaving him free to grab the umbrella with it.

The store was in sight now. Another few steps and they'd be there.

Just another few steps.

Another few steps.

The sound of splashing footsteps sounded behind them again. Yukiteru ignored them; he had to get Reisuke inside. They needed to buy this week's groceries. They needed the ingredients for dinner tonight.

The glass doors opened as Yukiteru stepped on the blackpad. The young man let out of sigh of relief as he let Reisuke drop down from his hip. He took a moment to just stand there, right in front of the sliding glass doors, underneath the too bright lights, and let himself breathe. He fumbled with his umbrella trying to close the plastic mess with his shaky hands. He took a deep breath, trying to forcibly calm himself, but only sent his whole body into fidged jerks instead of the tiny tremblings.

He didn't know whether Reisuke was too distracted by the promises of the candy aisle or just chose to ignore his obviously distressed babysitter, but either way Yukiteru was thankful. He took another few more forceful breaths until his hands were still enough to work the umbrella closed. Satisfied, Yukiteru forced himself to step forward and out of the doorway. He lingered next to the umbrella rack, unsure if he should risk placing his own into the mix of wet fabrics, but ultimately deciding to dump it there and go grab Reisuke.

Stepping away from the rack and walking towards the candy displayed proudly at the first aisle; Yukiteru somehow managed to get his trembling body under enough control to keep Reisuke from asking about it. Instead the little boy glanced up at his approaching babysitter with the most hopeful expression any four-year-old could make.

"I was actually thinking of making something for dessert tonight." He placed a hand on top Reisuke's hood covered head and pretended to actually ruffle his hair.

The smile Reisuke gave his could've lit up a dark room, but then the smile faded as the child obviously thought up a flaw in their plan. "Mama and Papa will pick me up today."

Yukiteru had to fight a frown from forming. He knew well enough that it was unlikely that Reisuke's parents would even be home tonight; much less pick up their child. Just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that…

"Then I'll get you something and make dessert tonight just incase." He smiled at the young boy; hoping to distract him from thoughts of his parents.

His plan seemed to have worked well. The blinding smile was suddenly back on the ginger's face and he threw his arms around the older boy in an adorable attempt at a hug. Reisuke let out a cheer of absolute joy, and it broke Yukiteru's small heart to know that such a simple thing was worth so much joy to the neglected child. He briefly returned the hug before ushering the toddler down the aisle and encouraging him to take the time to pick out his perfect piece of candy while Yukiteru picked up the things on the shopping list.

With a promise to absolutely not leave the aisle; Reisuke bounced away to study his vast options. Yukiteru watched him go, biting his lip a little in worry, maybe it was a mistake to leave the child without supervision...even if it was only for a minute.

Yukiteru shook his head. This store was incredibly small, no bigger than a gas station really, he would be able to see if someone tried to take off with Reisuke. With a renewed sense of comfort he set off the pick up the necessary groceries.

It was around the time he stopped to observe the displayed apples when he heard the sliding doors open again. Yukiteru glanced up to see a head of pink hair walk through.

A shiver run down his spine again, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Maybe he was standing too close to an air vent?

Yukiteru forced himself to look back at the apples; it wasn't likely that Reisuke would be attacked by the pinkette girl. He picked up one of the bright red fruits and studied it for any sign of bruises. Satisfied, he placed the apple in the plastic baggy provided next to the stand and moved on to the next piece.

He felt a pair of eyes on him.

He placed another good apple into the baggy and picked up another, studied it, placed it back.

Why were those eyes on him?

He picked up another apple, studied it, and placed it back.

They were still on him.

He picked up another, studied it, placed it in his baggy.

Why were they still on him?

Another apple, studied it, placed it in the baggy.

Why were the staring at him?

Another apple, study it, place it back.

Why were they still watching him?

Another apple, study it, place it in the baggy. That was all the apples he needed for the pie. Reisuke would be happy with pie; right? Yea; Reisuke loved apple pie. This was good. He could move out the way now. The eyes probably just wanted their turn with the apple stand.

Nodding to himself, Yukiteru moved down the next aisle. He passed a tall brunette woman and made his way towards the bread. Absentmindedly grabbing a loaf he made his way into the next aisle. Why were those eyes still on him?

Yukiteru risked a glance over his shoulder, but only the brunette woman was there, too busy on her cellphone trying to confirm they type of bread she needed. He let his eyes roam for a moment, but seeing no one else down he turned back to what he was originally doing. He was just being paranoid.

Picking up the rest of his list as well as the needed ingredients for tonight's dinner; Yukiteru made his way back to the candy. Reisuke had, of course, picked his desired candy (a rather sizable bag of lollipops) by the time he'd finished picking everything up.

Yukiteru smiled and hoisted Reisuke back on his hip. With his basket of groceries on one arm and a child in the other; the babysitter made his way to the checkout line. Reisuke had decided that this would be an opportune time to steal Yukiteru's tan beanie on shove it over his froggie hood. Yukiteru's smile grew and her grabbed the beanie and pretended to steal it back. Reisuke grabbed the hat again and they ended up in a mini tug-of-war. It was almost enough to distract him from the feeling of eyes on his back.

When their turn at the register came Yukiteru had to place Reisuke down and help unload their items. It didn't take long for the rather board looking cashier to ring up the purchases and send the two on their merry way.

It wasn't fast enough.

Yukiteru grabbed his umbrella from the rack, swung Reisuke onto his hip, settled his grocery bags into the nook of his elbows, and made his way out into the rainstorm. All with the feeling of those eyes boring into his back.

It was almost a relief to step into the cold rain. He turned down the direction of his home and began walking. He pulled Reisuke and the groceries closer to himself to keep them from getting wet.

The walk was peaceful from thanonout. He was able to get home and reach the front porch with the only wet casualty being his beanie. He'd been forced at this point to hand the umbrella over to Reisuke in order to fish around his pockets and find his house key. Maybe it was time to consider a keychain?

He fiddled with the lock for a moment before the door opened. As soon as he flicked the lightswitch Reisuke hopped down from his hip and raced towards the nearest TV. The house was soon flooded with the sound of the science channel and explanations on the dangers of blindly mixing bases and acids. And if Yukiteru decided to ignore the sounds of snickering and a whisper of "poor stupid monkeys;" than that was no one's business but his own.

Using his foot to swing the door closed; Yukiteru made a beeline for the kitchen. Beef stew sounded really good right now.

"I'll start dinner now Reisuke." He called.

"'Kay." The snickering child answered; the TV produced what sounded like some rather painful dying breaths while a monotone scientist explained some toxic gas. Yukiteru chose this moment to start searching for the soup pot.

It didn't take long to find the right pot. He placed the pot carefully on the counter and reached over to flick the stove on. Maybe he should start his homework now too? No; he wait til he prepared the ingredients before starting his math problems. Those potatoes weren't going to cut themselves, and there was no way he was letting Reisuke around the knives.

It was almost therapeutic for him, chopping meat and vegetables, enough for him to almost put his worries out of his mind. He slid the now dried ingredients into the pot and grabbed the flour necessary for the stew.

And that's when he felt the eyes..

Yukiteru jumped again, almost stabbing him finger in the process, and snapped up his head. Someone turned a corner on the street.

There he goes being too paranoid again.

He forced himself to take another calming breath. There was no need to freak out; he was probably just imagining it. He needed to get the preparations for dinner ready. With a mix of sauces and a few good herbs then he'd be able to let the pot sit for a bit and start his homework. Yukiteru fumbled around the kitchen and reached for the cabinet holding the items he needed. He'd just mix them in and start up algebra.

"Reisuke! Have you started your homework?" Yukiteru called as he added the last of the spices. The sound of a muffled "Yes" sounded from the livingroom.

"Bring it in here and let me see it!" The child usually had his homework done before the end of Aftercare, but sometimes the four year old found the work too easy and left it untouched out of pure boredom. Yukiteru was not going to show up for another conference with the teacher, not after he barely squeaked by with an excuse of the parents being out of town on business. He'd had to call his mother home for that meeting and it was one step away from becoming an unbearably awkward situation.

Reisuke, thankfully, was pretty obedient to Yukiteru and soon came shuffling into the kitchen with his backpack. He switched on the opened his back and pulled out some neatly filed paper along with his signed agenda before making his way right back to the television to watch what looked like a rather painful acid bath. Yukiteru glanced through the work before deciding that, yes, Reisuke had been telling the truth and placing the homework back in the schoolbag.

He pulled out his own schoolbag and decided that, yes, it's time to start his homework and prove to Reisuke he wasn't being a hypocrite just now. He sat down, keeping in mind to take breaks to make the stew, and pulled out the dreaded math. Taking a last glance out the window and seeing nothing there he began the long journey through homework.

He wasn't able to type in his diary today; he should catch up on that soon.

"Do the math, Yukiteru." He mumbled to himself. He could focus on catching up on the diary entries when he was done. He memorized the times; he wasn't going to forget just because he put it off for awhile.

With a few breaks to steer the stew and a few more breaks to check on just what Reisuke was laughing so hard about Yukiteru was able to, eventually, finish the dreaded homework. Just in time for the stew to be half done at that.

Yukiteru, with considerably less care than he had given Reisuke's homework, shoved all the papers pack into his folder and dropped it into the bag. He immediately pulled out his prized cellphone to catch up on the dairy he'd neglected today.

Form across the way a young girl stared at the boy through the window; a smile painted on her rather pretty face.