Chapter Thirty-Five: Men and Love:

December 18th, 2010.

Kyosuke and Takashi sat on opposite ends of Watari’s lab. For some reason, they thought to come here today. Kyosuke stared at the blind angel. Unlike Charlotte and April, the men weren’t that close. Takashi’s blind eyes seemed to stare at him. Kyosuke waved his hand slightly. Uh…

He looked at him when he heard the door open. Watari stood in the doorway, blinking.

“Oh,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting you today. Did something happen?”

“I need your help!” both Takashi and Kyosuke said.

“O-Okay…” the blonder scientist said.

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The three men sat neat Watari’s laptop. Watari drummed his finger against his cheek.

“What is this all about?” he asked. “One at a time, please. Who’s going first?” Takashi and Kyosuke sat silent. It appeared they were struggling. Kyosuke opened his mouth, but closed it. 003 flapped her wings on Watari’s shoulders.

“Come on,” her owner said. “I can’t help you if you won’t say anything.”

“I confessed to April,” Kyosuke said.

“Confessed what?” the blonde scientist asked.

“My feelings. Yeah…” The awkward shinigami nodded.

“What happened?” Watari asked. Kyosuke chuckled uneasily.

“Not so good…”

“Did she reject you?”

“No…”

“I’m guessing she didn’t accept either, right?”

Kyosuke shook his head. Watari narrowed his eyes.

“What did she say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

The awkward shinigami rubbed his forehead. “Well… She invited me out Christmas shopping this morning.”

“Go on.”

“It went well until lunch. We went to an Italian restaurant and…” Kyosuke looked at Watari and Takashi as if expecting some sort of judgement. Their silence made it that much more painful. He felt like there was a gun to his back as he spoke. This next part might as well be chewing on broken glass. Kyosuke rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

“And?” Takashi asked.

Kyosuke whistled. “I blurted out I loved her and she freaked out.”

“You did what?” Watari asked.

“I blurted out my feelings to her. I wasn’t thinking. I don’t know. It just came out.”

“And what did she say?” Watari asked.

“Nothing,” Kyosuke said. “She ordered red wine and drank most of the afternoon. I drank a little bit, but she went through two bottles alone. I had to carry her back to her apartment afterwards. Lunch wasn’t cheap either.”

“So you just blurted out a confession and she panicked?” Watari asked.

“I screwed up,” Kyosuke said.

“Takashi?” Watari asked. The blind angel shifted in his seat.

“Well… Char-chan’s confusing me lately,” he said.

“Confusing how?”

“I don’t know what she wants.” Takashi played with his hands. “She keeps trying to kiss and touch me.” Watari looked at both men.

“Urahara-kun, what do you want from Robinson-chan?” he asked. Kyosuke shrugged.

“To be April’s boyfriend, I supposed,” he said. “But… I just don’t know now. I mean… how do I face her after all that?”

“And what do you want, Takashi-kun?” Watari asked.

“I don’t know,” the angel said. “What is love anyway? Char-chan keeps saying that she likes me the way a woman likes a man. But I don’t understand her.” Watari studied both of their faces. He rubbed his forehead.

“Either one of you have anywhere to go this evening?” the blonde scientist asked.

“No,” Kyosuke and Takashi said. Watari lowered his hand.

“Right,” he said. “Alright, good.”