"It's about time I introduced you to your latest assignment," Professor Ito announced as she started writing on the board in long, elegant strokes.

Sho, half-dazed from the last twenty minutes of lecturing, propped his chin up on his palm, his attention already waning. He followed the flow of her handwriting more than her words, and it wasn't until she'd written Group Project: Scene Assignment that his thoughts hit a snag. A group project? They hadn't done anything like that in this course as of yet; the professor didn't strike Sho as someone who approved of it, honestly, like she preferred to judge a person's performance by individual standards rather than as a unit.

Sho, though, couldn't have been more ecstatic. He kinda just loved people.

"The paper I'm sending around now lists your groups," Professor Ito added. "Take this as an opportunity to learn more about your classmates and maybe make a study buddy. You never know how useful knowing someone else with notes can be. You can use the rest of your class period to meet up with your partner and start discussing your plans for the project."

When the list was passed to him, Sho quickly scanned over its contents, a beaming smile stretching across his lips the moment he settled on his name. Alongside Mizuno Natsuo.

    Natsuo, as far as Sho knew, was something of a mystery. He didn't interact much with their classmates, and though he and Sho only shared one class he could guess that it was the same across the board for the blue-haired teen. As a result, no one knew anything concrete about him. A few rumors had emerged here and there that Sho paid little attention to, as he didn't think anything as insubstantial as word-of-mouth accusations were worth taking note of.

    Sho slid the paper to his seat partner and scooted out into the aisle, jumping to his feet. Everyone was turning around in their seats, locating their groups in the crowd, and Sho followed suit, taking the steps that led down from the arena-style classroom to reach the front row.

    And there was Natsuo, his face a tight mix of confusion and what Sho almost mistook for indifference.

    "Mizuno-chan!" Sho called, placing his hands - palms down - on the desk in front of Natsuo to catch his attention. He smiled as he always did, hoping it would work its magic this time around as well and distract from the tense atmosphere already springing up between them. "I'm Hayakawa Sho! You can just call me Sho, though, if you want. Whatever's easier for you!"

    Natsuo looked up at him, blinking. Sho's grin widened a fraction, his cheeks dimpling; putting people at ease was his specialty, and Natsuo definitely seemed like he was in need of a calming agent. He looked about ready to bolt from his seat from Sho's perspective.

    "...Natsuo's fine, then," the man offered in response."Please take care of me."

    He glanced down, fiddling with his notebook, before fixing his eyes on Sho again.

    "Do you have any ideas?"

    "Hmm... nothing's coming to mind at the moment," Sho admitted with a careless shrug.

    He hopped up onto Natsuo's desk, head cocked as he recalled the details of their assignment.

    "I usually work with romance in my scenes, but that's not for everyone. Ooh, we could go all horror for this, lots of blood and gore and such! Sensei would probably love that!"

    He blinked, then angled himself back to bump shoulders with Natsuo.

    "Oh, please take care of me, too, Natsuo-chan!"

    Natsuo simply stared at him as if Sho had suddenly sprouted wings.

    "... I wouldn't know how to write romance," he admitted duly.

    Sho expected that. He'd overheard a conversation between Natsuo and Sensei before, and Sensei had been saying something (in that wheedling tone of hers that even Sho took offense to on occasion) about how Natsuo lacked emotional depth in his characters. One of Sho's friends had added on that it was because Natsuo lacked emotional depth. He wasn't happy to hear that tasteless joke and had actually scolded his friend for it, much to both their surprises.

    "I'm fine with most anything," Sho grinned, kicking his legs in the air as he leaned forward again. "So we'll go with whatever you're comfortable with, Natsuo-chan!"

    Sho waited for Natsuo to respond, happily humming some probably-popular tune under his breath. The other students were settling into their groups, chatting like old friends. A lot of them were, Sho mused; friends who'd taken the same class for the sole purpose of meeting up with one another. His friend, Ryouta, was like that; he'd only signed up for the class to have an excuse to see Sho and Jura.

    "... something cold."

    "Something cold?" Sho echoed, blinking.

    Now that was something he might not be comfortable writing.

    "Heh, Natsuo-chan, that's interesting!"

    Sho leapt off the desk just as their sensei announced that she'd see them again in a few days. With class over with, Sho's friends were already descending from the top of the aisles, waving to get his attention. Normally, he'd head out with them to the arcade, or to grab a bite to eat (not that he really participated in that bit), but, well...

    Discreetly, hoping Natsuo didn't turn his head, Sho made a shooing motion, mouthing that he'd call Ryouta later; the redhead wrinkled his nose, uncertain why Sho was blowing him off, but he eventually shrugged and motioned for the others to follow him as he made his way towards the door, ushered along by the rest of the departing students.

    Grinning, Sho turned back to Natsuo.

    "Wanna get a head start on this thing, Natsuo-chan? We can hang out at a cafe for a while and bounce ideas off each other! Sounds fun, huh?"

    "... just a moment," Natsuo answered after a minute had passed.

    He pulled out his phone, thumbing through his contacts, it looked like. Sho watched as he typed out a quick message, frowned at it, backspaced a bit, then retyped and pressed send. That finished, he looked back up to Sho.

    "I don't mind."

    "Great! Just let me get my things!"

    Sho raced up the aisles, taking the steps two at a time, until he could slide into his usual seat. He plucked up his messenger bag from where it sat on the ground and slung it over his shoulder, then cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted for Natsuo to get a move on.

    He was strangely excited for this partnership, more so than usual, and he couldn't figure out why. But, whatever the reason, Sho thought his time with Natsuo was going to be memorable for sure.

    Natsuo, bag slung over his shoulder, walked to join Sho.

    "Where are we going?" he asked.

    "I know this great little cafe, like, the coffee is literally heaven, and..."

    Sho trailed off, the hand he'd raised to emphasize the savory goodness of the cafe's coffee falling listlessly to his side. His shoulders slumped forward, and he let out a sigh.

    "They're totally closed by now... The owner employs high schoolers, and he doesn't like keeping them very late..."

    But Sho was smiling again just a few seconds later, and he took Natsuo by the arm in his excitement.

    "Manga cafes! They're always open late, right? I've never been to one, but they sound cool! Let's go there, 'cause I bet we'll feel all kinds of creative surrounded by all that manga!"

    "... they're nice," Natsuo admitted. He'd dropped his gaze to the ground, avoiding eye contact. "There's... there's one not far from here. Two blocks."

    "Ooh, nice!"

    Sho fist pumped, but consciously toned down his reaction upon noticing the strange look on Natsuo's face. It wasn't unease, he thought, or even discomfort. Did the guy feel awkward with him?

    "Nat-chan," Sho said suddenly, reaching for Natsuo's hand, "if ya don't wanna go, you can just tell me. I know we don't know each other, like, at all, and I don't wanna make you uncomfortable. We can always work on the assignment on campus."

    It would probably take them twice as long if they did it only when they were on campus together, but if Natsuo preferred something like that, Sho really didn't mind. He was pretty flexible in where and how he worked, and despite his spoiled upbringing he liked being the one to adapt to others if the need arose.

    "No," Natsuo replied, almost instantly. "I'm... I'm fine with it. It' would be more efficient to work on the project this way..."

    Definitely the awkward type. Well, not that Sho minded. He'd just have to work a little more to crack Natsuo's shell, was all.

    "So... I don't mind..."

    Sho was beaming again, just like that.

    He squeezed Natsuo's hand before releasing it and practically skipping out the door. He was glad, he had to admit it, that Natsuo wasn't bothered by him. Sho had learned he was the type of person someone either loved or hated, and at least as of right then Natsuo hadn't decided on the latter quite yet.

    "Then lead the way, Nat-chan!"

    "Nat-chan..." Natsuo echoed, and Sho pouted momentarily, worried he'd overstepped his boundaries. It wouldn't have been the first time, since he had a habit of getting too cozy to fast with pretty much everyone. But then Natsuo seemed to shake off whatever had bothered him. "As you wish."

    They started down the hall, Sho a few steps away from Natsuo, hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans. He waved or flashed a beaming smile whenever he caught sight of someone he knew, which they returned with equal zeal. Sho wasn't expecting Natsuo to break their mutual silence anytime soon (maybe ever), so he nearly laughed in surprised when Natsuo spoke up:

    "...you didn't have plans for today?"

    "Hm? Oh, nope! No plans. In fact, you really saved me, Nat-chan! It would've been so boring just to go back home after class."

    It wasn't exactly a lie. Sho didn't have plans - going out with his friends was a habit, and they hardly ever discussed where they were going; they just wandered around until something caught their eye. He wasn't missing anything by skipping out for a day, or even a week, however long it took for Natsuo and him to finish this project.

    "Oh! And if Nat-chan is too much for you, let me know, 'kay? You look younger than me, so Natsuo is Nat-chan to me!"

    "... I'm a first year," he offered in response, studying Sho. "... are you older?"

    Sho tilted his head, taking that in, when Natsuo ducked his head again, his nervousness practically palpable.

    "Sorry, that's obvious. Nevermind."

    "Don't worry about it, Nat-chan!"

    Sho pointed to himself and grinned.

    "I'm in my second year of film studies. Wow, we're only a year apart! Hehe, it's funny. You look way older than me, Nat-chan, totally like an adult. Also, I act a lot younger than I really am, so I get mistaken for a high-schooler a lot!"

    He seemed almost proud of this fact, with his huge smile and his shining eyes, and to an extent, he was. Sho hadn't changed much from when he was younger, but he continued making people laugh as he was, so he had no intentions of altering his outlook on life any time soon.

    "I'm... the opposite," Natsuo offered after a long pause. "People mistake me for an adult..." He paused, then, rubbing the back of his neck, amended, "For an older adult... and I'm an English major."

    Sho could see why people assumed Natsuo was older than he was. Tall and muscular, with well-defined features and deeply blue eyes, Natsuo somehow gave off the impression that he'd seen a lot of the world; there was an air of sophistication about him that Sho was beginning to attribute mostly to the way he set his brows together.

    But... well, looking the part didn't always make one an adult.

    Sho giggled.

    "You're still cute, Nat-chan, like a little kid. Not in a bad way," he added quickly, coupled with another laugh. "Just... cute! And you're an English major! Maybe we could team up when we graduate; you write the scripts and I'll direct 'em!"

    "...I'm not that good at writing," Natsuo mumbled softly. "...and I don't think I've ever been called cute before."

    Well, that wouldn't do!

    "Whaaaaat?! No way!"

    Sho blinked in disbelief. Though he could see the cafe in the distance, he stopped in the middle of the streets and tugged Natsuo to a halt beside him. He reached up and pinched Natsuo's cheeks between his fingers, pouting.

    "You're so cute, Nat-chan! And you've got really pretty eyes! And a nice smile! Okay, well, I haven't seen that yet, but bet it's adorable."

    He watched as Natsuo's face lit up an adorable scarlet beneath his fingers, his posture stiffening, hands held up limply between them.

    "Th-th-thanks..." he mumbled, managing to bring his hand up to push Sho's away. "Th-that's v-very nice of y-you to s-s-say..."

    Oh.

    Sho's eyes widened.

    Now that was downright foul play.

    Without thinking, Sho snaked his arms around Natsuo's waist and pressed his face to the man's chest, grinning.

    "I can't believe no one's ever called you cute before! Everyone must be totally blind! Nat-chan, you're blushing - so cute."

    Sho felt Natsuo's hands snake up between them, and he couldn't tell if Natsuo was trying to shove him off or - well, Sho didn't know what the or what was.

    "Th-th-th-thank... c-could you... I... I m-mean... c-could..."

    Sho glanced upwards and instantly noticed the taut, awkward expression hidden beneath Natsuo's blush. The man's body was rigid in his grip. Oh, he'd made a mistake, then.

    He released Natsuo and backed up a few steps, unsure what was a safe distance now that he'd established how little physical contact the bluenette could process at one time.

    "I'm so sorry, Nat-chan! It's my bad habit, ya know? I'm kind of clingy."

    Sho scuffed his heel on the asphalt, smiling sheepishly, his hands clasped together at the small of his back. It was his most repentant look, and one he rarely wore at that.

    "I-It's fine," Natsuo mumbled, scratching again at the back of his neck, his eyes roaming everywhere that wasn't Sho's face. The blush died down slowly. "I'm... I'm just not good... not any good with people." He shuffled his feet a little, turned his head to angle away from Sho. "It's fine," he repeated lamely.

    "You're perfectly fine, Nat-chan, it's my fault," Sho insisted with a bright smile. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the manga cafe. "Still wanna work with me tonight?"

    Sho wasn't sure he could refrain from hugging such an adorable creature, but he'd try for Natsuo's sake. He didn't want to scare him off at this point; aside from being the cutest thing Sho had ever seen, he liked Natsuo for his quiet nature. It was a nice contrast from the loud, brash crowd he hung out with daily.

    Natsuo hesitated, then slowly nodded his agreement.

    "I don't mind..." he replied. "We... we need to work on the project."

    Sho smiled, chirping a thank you to Natsuo as he passed and led the way into the cafe. He got the two of them a sofa and plopped down onto one side, patting the free seat for Natsuo to take.

    "Hm... so a cold story, huh?" Sho murmured, shaking his laptop free of his messenger bag and propping it up on his knees. The glow of the screen made his gray eyes shine silver in the nighttime lighting of the cafe. Tapping at a few random keys, just to have something down on the page (as he hated the sight of a blank page, whether a physical piece of paper or on a computer), Sho cut his eyes to Natsuo, giving him the chance to speak. "Honestly, Nat-chan, I'm kind of a warm person, so... I think you're gonna have to help me out with this."

    Natsuo ducked his head, studying the cover of a Shounen Jump set out on a coffee table a foot in front of their sofa.

    "It... doesn't have to be cold. I'm just... not good at writing emotions," he explained.

    Sho laughed again, belatedly hoping it didn't come off as offensive to Natsuo.

    "Funny, one of the only good things about my writing is that I get emotions down well. Oh, here Nat-chan, let's swap some writing first, that way we can get a feel for each other's styles!"

    That said, Sho produced a worn notebook from his bag. It wasn't very old, as he'd only gotten it a month or two prior, but the pages were dog-eared, some of them half-ripped from the spiral binding. Loose, curling handwriting was tattooed across the cover, and from the visible pages he absently flicked through, that same handwriting spiralled deeper into the book. Sho always had this with him, and took it out whenever creativity struck him - whenever, and wherever that happened to be. Now, the ink smears he could do without, since those had stained a few of his nicer shirts in the process of getting onto the page, but overall he loved this thing. It was his heart and soul and mind in black and white (and the occasional pink, as he'd gotten a set of pink gel pens a while back).

    Natsuo hesitated once more before dipping his head and pulling his bag closer to rifle through it. Sho bit his lip to keep from laughing at the mess he could see half-erupting from the backpack. How Natsuo found anything in there was a mystery to him, but find his notebook he did, which he promptly (and meticulously) pulled out, holding it out for Sho to take.

    "Here," he said, exchanging his notebook for Sho's. "Don't... don't expect too much."

    He already had his nose buried in Sho's writing by the time Sho had flipped open the tattered cover.

    Sho eagerly scanned the contents of the notebook, his eyes roaming quickly down the first few pages. At first, he was simply intrigued by the writing style; it was so vastly different from his own that he was captivated in trying to decipher the ins and outs of it. But his interest soon evolved into fascination and even admiration; the prose was sophisticated, like his first impression of Natsuo, but the attention to detail and the philosophical note to his words...   

    In short, he found it absolutely amazing.

    Sho's mouth had fallen open by the time he finished the first short story Natsuo had completed, and he remembered the prompt they'd been given for this. He also remembered that he'd taken a completely different route with it, one that bordered on fairytale-esque. But, reading this, Sho was beginning to understand what Natsuo meant by cold. And honestly? He wanted to see more of it.

    "Sensei's right in saying you lack emotion, Nat-chan," he murmured, still engrossed in his reading, "but that's just something you have to work on, ya know? What you've already got... it's mind-blowing talent!"

    Sho missed Natsuo's initial reaction, captivated as he was by the words in front of him, but he heard Natsuo mumble, "...thank you," and looked up in time to see Natsuo drop his gaze back to Sho's notebook.

    "You, too," he said, nodding at the notebook. "I mean you have talent, too." He seemed to struggle with what to say next, fidgeting in his seat. "Warm," he offered eventually. "It's really warm. Like a sun."

    Faint heat blossomed in Sho's cheeks. Sure, he'd said it himself earlier that he considered himself to be a warm person, but hearing it from Natsuo - it made his lips twitch into a soft, grateful smile.

    "Nat-chan, you're so nice!"

    Sho flicked through a few more of Natsuo's stories, beyond fascinated with his depictions of setting and scenes. Sho'd wanted to be a writer - a proper author - when he was younger, but he later discovered his talent lay more in crafting characters than stories, and he'd decided that by going into film he could cultivate that. But Natsuo, Sho couldn't see him as anything other than an author, a best-selling one at that.

    "Okay," Sho grinned, setting down Natsuo's notebook, almost reverently, on the coffee table before them. He pulled his feet up on the couch, crossing them at the ankles and bracing his hands against them to lean forward, towards Natsuo. "I've made up my mind. While we work on this project, I'm gonna help you learn to write your characters better, Nat-chan, and in return, when you become rich and famous, you're gonna sign a buncha books for me. 'Kay?"

    Natsuo opened his mouth multiple times but nothing came out. Eventually, he shook his head.

    "How... how will you teach me?" he asked, shutting Sho's notebook and handing it back to him.

    "Not sure yet," Sho admitted with an easy grin, tucking away his own notebook. "I've never really taught someone to write anything before, and I used to ignore my teachers in high school when they told me how to write. So... we'll just start writing for our scene and see where it goes? I can offer you some tips whenever I notice you're skimming over emotions? It's a place to start, anyway, right?"
Sho bent down to tap the spacebar on his laptop (as he'd set it down on the table before looking into Natsuo's writing) and the screen lit up again, revealing the document he'd been setting up for them. He backspaced, deleting the random assortment of letters he'd typed in.

    Ideas:

Something cold?

Emotional?

"Hehe, I'm not the best planner. Sorry about that, Nat-chan. I'm a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda guy."

    "It's fine," Natsuo replied, his eyes skimming over the page thoughtfully. "I... I plan too much. Um, what genre?" he asked. "Genre is important. We're writing a short story, but she set no guidelines for one single genre we have to stick to. So, it wouldn't have to be realist fiction."

    "Hm... I've kinda always wanted to try my hand at a mystery-thriller story, if you'd be up for that?"

    "That would work," Natsuo agreed. "...it would be something that I could write, at least.That style doesn't demand close connection to the characters. Detachment actually works well in those works. Unless you're going for having the reader feel just as scared as the character, then it's a must-have."

    "Then it's perfect! We'll just inject a bit of emotion into the characters; it'll be good practice for you, Nat-chan."

This was fun. More fun than he'd thought it would be. Not that he considered Natsuo boring, or anything, but he knew their personalities clashed pretty obviously, and he thought their meeting would end up with Natsuo becoming annoyed with Sho after only an hour or so of working together. So he was glad they were getting along.

"Let's get working on a plot, then!"

    "... mystery-thriller," Natsuo mused aloud. "A plot... murder or horror?"

    "Murder!" Sho cheered without hesitation. "Murder mysteries are always so cool, dontcha think, Nat-chan? I love trying to piece out who the murderer is. I'm usually wrong, but that's just part of the fun, ya know?"

Murder mystery, he typed below his notes, grinning like a child.

    "Then there are other things we can use to go off of that," Natsuo said. "The main character, male or female? Detective? Average person? Eye-witness? Suspect? Romance with another character..."

    "Might be easier to write for a male for us... Although I'm pretty good with girls, too," Sho said. His eyes brightened as another thought was swept to the forefront of his mind. "We could do dual protagonists! Have them switch off part way through the story. Hehe, I could write for the girl, you for the guy. Ooh, we could have one of them be the murderer and the other the detective! And throw in some romance for good measure!"

Seeing the confused look on Natsuo's face, Sho grinned sheepishly, scratching at his cheek.
"Only if you wanna, Nat-chan."

    "I like that idea," Natsuo admitted, much to Sho's amusement. "I'd be willing to write it. Although... I'm no good at romance."

    "No worries!" Sho trilled. "That's what I'm here for - to help you get out of your comfort zone!"

Sho made another note on the page - help Nat-chan with romance. Something about the wording struck him as odd, but he shrugged it off a moment later and skipped down a few lines to begin building character profiles.

"I love making characters," he admitted. "I do it a lot in my free time, just think up random characters that I could maybe build stories around. It's tons of fun, in my opinion. I usually end up shipping them, too," he added with a laugh.

    "Plots," Natsuo volunteered, watching the words flare to life on the next-to-empty computer page. "I like imagining stories. Situations. Worlds. It's.. nice."

    "Wow," Sho breathed, his lips curled into a bright, complacent smile. "We're like two sides of the same coin, huh? We're gonna rock this assignment, Nat-chan, just you wait!"
Sho's fingers flew across the keys as he put to words the woman he was already envisioning. He went for tall and toned, a sharp contrast to his usual baby-faced female leads; ebony hair to go against his more colorful designs (plus it seemed to fit the mood of the story that was taking shape between them); he liked the idea of a cold, hardened woman as well, regardless whether she turned out to be the murderer or the detective.

He periodically glanced at Natsuo, checking to see what his reactions were. He didn't want to contribute something that completely threw the man off.

    Natsuo was watching the character develop, interest obvious on his usually dull face.  When Sho had finished, he slowly nodded.

"She's perfect," he announced, his town as even as ever. "Would you make the other one as well?"

    A frown passed over Sho's face for a moment before he smoothed it away.

"Yeah, of course! But you gotta help me out, Nat-chan, since you're gonna be the one writing him. You need to be comfortable with him, 'else he'll come out awkward. Trust me, I've used other people's characters before, and I stress so much on getting them just right that I end up ruining the whole piece."

    Natsuo blinked, then nodded his agreement.

"Okay."

He focused his attention on the computer, pursing his lips for a moment before hesitantly pointing to each area and offering his opinion on occasion. Slowly, this character bloomed into life as well. A morally stunted, young man, with little understanding of the rules the world turned on. Tall, compact muscles, and pale blonde hair. A nice, stark contrast to the woman that had been developed moments before. Also, someone he might be able to write with ease.

    Sho whistled appreciatively and nudged Natsuo's shoulder with his own without thinking. He was so used to casually making physical contact with people that he didn't really know how to stop himself anymore when the recipient disliked it.

"He's all mysterious and aloof - I like 'em a lot, Nat-chan! We can make a killer story with these two!"

It took him a moment, but he recognized the pun in his words and let out a peal of laughter, but quickly checked himself and ended the whole affair with a weak cough, peeking at Natsuo. Way to go, Sho, just embarrass yourself in front of the guy.

Natsuo, apparently oblivious to Sho's inner turmoil, merely nodded, managing a small smile at Sho in response to the unintentional joke.

    "We can," he agreed. "We'll just need to think over the plot, now. Mysteries need time to develop."

    "True, true," Sho agreed, swallowing down another forced cough. "I'm not that great at 'em, like I said before, but I'm willing to try my best to capture the mystique of our story."
He absently tapped a finger beside the mousepad, musing over their options. Their teacher wouldn't criticize them for going cliche with the story, so long as they put their own original spin onto it, but doing something completely original would probably net them a better score.

"Well, you're the plot guy, Nat-chan; any ideas?"

    Natsuo stared at the page contemplatively for a few minutes. Sho could almost see the gears spinning behind his sky-blue eyes.

"Partners," he offered. "Working the same case. One is the killer."

    Sho beamed, very much resisting the urge to hug the life out of Natsuo.

"That's perfect!"

He added it to the notes, then followed up with a question - who's the killer?

Natsuo eyed the note thoughtfully for a moment.

"... it'd be interesting for it to be the female," he announced. "The male's personality matches the role perfectly, so if it was the female... it'd be a twist."

    Sho nodded and adjusted his notes accordingly. He added a few things he thought might spice up the characters' relationship, then sat back, cocking his head to observe the time displayed in the corner of his screen.

"Ah... it's late."

He hadn't noticed how quickly time was slipping by. Which was surprising in and of itself for him. Usually he was incredibly conscious of the time, since his parents liked him to keep a tight schedule with them.

Natsuo glanced at a nearby clock, knitting his brow in concern when he saw the time.

"Ah... you're right," he agreed. "I..." he trailed off awkwardly for a moment, realizing that perhaps cutting their meeting short would be bad, then shook his head. Sho had noted the time first. "I should get going... my brother..."

    Sho worked on powering down his computer and putting his things away, before he turned back to Natsuo with a gleeful smile.

"I'll walk ya home, Nat-chan," he offered. "After all, someone so cute's definitely gonna be a target for weird people."

That, and he knew this time of night was when the ghouls came out. His own family would probably be out hunting by now, if they hadn't done anything in the last few days. Natsuo may have looked like he could handle himself, but getting to know him had vastly changed his opinion; plus, against a ghoul, the limits of human capabilities were pitifully obvious.
So he wouldn't be taking no for an answer.

    Natsuo's brow stayed furrowed and he didn't instantly stand.

"But..." he began, awkwardly raising one hand to rub the back of his neck. "If you walk me home..."

    Something in Natsuo's expression gave away his thoughts, and Sho smiled, touched by his concern.

But he couldn't be having that right now.
Sho held up his arm, flexing his muscles (or pretending to anyway; he was actually fairly muscular beneath his baggy clothing) and grinning reassuringly at Natsuo.

"Despite how I act, I'm pretty strong, Nat-chan! You don't have to worry about me at all!"

    "...if you say so," Natsuo relented after a moment of hesitation. "...thanks."

    Sho, grinning all the while, settled their bill with the cafe and led the way out onto the street. He was grateful he'd remembered to wear a thicker jacket today, as the winter chill was very much evident in the night air.

"So, lead the way to your house, Nat-chan!" he said, gesturing grandly to both paths they could take.

    "Okay," he agreed. As they walked, however, his expression took on another note of concern, to which Sho blinked in confusion, waiting for Natsuo to explain. "... my brother is protective..."

    Sho absently pointed to himself again.

"Am I no good?" he asked, tilting his head. "Is your bro gonna hate me, or something?"
Natsuo shook his head.

    "No, he'll... brother complex."

Sho nearly laughed; of course Natsuo's brother had a brother complex. Natsuo was adorable, what brother wouldn't fawn over him? If either of Sho's younger brothers were anywhere near as cute as Natsuo, Sho would have never left them alone.

    "I mean, he'll... questions, probably..." Natsuo finished awkwardly.

    Sho let out a murmur of understanding.
Brother complex. He could deal with that.

He hoped, anyway.

"I'm honest, Nat-chan," he said encouragingly, "so I don't mind any questions. A protective older brother seems nice, too. My brothers kinda don't care what I get myself into."

    Not that he was upset over the fact. His family was just like that - distant with one another. He thought, if anything were to really happen, then they would care, they would help, so he contented himself with that. He tried to, at least.

    "Aniki raised me," Natsuo explained, which, again - Sho hadn't been expecting him to willingly divulge anything so personal, not to someone he'd only met today. "So, he worries. He works a lot, though, so he might not be home."

    Natsuo paused, assessing their surroundings with a passing glance.

    "It's not far now."

    Though it was entirely possible there was another reason for Natsuo being raised by his older brother, a cold stone of doubt settled itself in the pit of Sho's stomach.

Well. This sucked.

But he forced a brighter smile and hooked arms with Natsuo.

"Well, whatever happens, I'm up for it!" he promised.

    And he was. Up for it. Sho didn't count his charms as one of his best traits for nothing! If it was at all possible to land a spot on Natsuo's brother's good side, then Sho was going to do it, no doubt about it.

But, well, fortunately or not--

    "Eh?" Sho blinked, then blinked again. "He's not home?"

    Natsuo shook his head.

    "Aniki sometimes gets off work really late," he explained with a shrug. He glanced back at his door, then to Sho, an air of indecisiveness about him that rang warning bells in Sho's mind. "Would you, um... would you want--"

    "Ah, no thanks, Nat-chan!" Sho chirped, clapping his hands to the back of his neck and grinning that thousand-watt smile of his. "I gotta get home tonight. But I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

    Natsuo nodded rapidly, rubbing faintly at his wrist.

    "I'm free tomorrow, as well, for... for the project."
    "Awesome! See ya, then, Nat-chan! And make sure to get some sleep, 'kay? It's important!"

    Sho left Natsuo (after making sure the door was safely closed behind him) with a parting smile before he turned and headed back the way they'd come. He'd told another white lie - his family wouldn't care what time he strolled in, they likely wouldn't notice one way or the other. But hanging out with Natsuo any longer invited the risk of Sho doing something suspicious, like refusing food. He'd had a rough time of it making excuses to his friends those first few outings; he couldn't expect anything better from his time in Natsuo's company.

Better to limit his exposure time, at least for now.