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"Shigure!"

Uh oh...

Shigure put on his blandest, most serene, most angelic expression as the angry Dragon approached. If he let his eyes go out of focus just-so, he could almost see smoke coming from his friend's nostrils.

The Dog schooled his laugh into a cough. "Yes, Ha--"

"You stole my driver's license!"

Hell. Leave it to Ha-san to exaggerate the matter.

It wasn't as if he hadn't had excellent reason to borrow his friend's license. Shigure hadn't passed his test the first time around, and Hatori had, and Shigure found that if he parted his hair on the right, he bore more than just a passing resemblance to the Dragon. No one said a word when he borrowed one of the family's cars, and no one had said a word when he returned it... more or less in the same condition.

But Hatori had found out.

Time for some damage control...

He put his hands up as a means to placate his cousin. "/Borrow/, Ha-san! I borrowed it!"

Sea-blue eyes widened in indignant incredulity. "...But you didn't ASK first!"

"Well, no... But I gave it back! And if I'd asked first, you would've said no, true?" Shigure added quickly.

"Of course I would have said no!"

"Then it's better I didn't ask," he replied breezily, pointedly ignoring the choking noise the Dragon was currently making. "Besides," Shigure added with a wink, "borrowing only means that one has to return the item in question. To ask beforehand is merely a formality." And with that, the Dog made a hasty getaway, leaving his friend seething behind him.

Unfortunately, when Hatori was upset with Shigure, he knew better than most how to make the Dog squirm. He refused to let Shigure copy his physics notes, for starters. Of course, add to this the fact that Hatori's laconic refusal was one of the only times in the following days that he'd actually deigned to speak to Shigure didn't help matters. This led to Shigure actually having to figure out his own physics homework, only to find out that Hatori and Ayame were taking one of the cars on a day-trip to the seaside.

While Shigure was doing his homework.

It wasn't fair.

The Dog entertained fascinating and amusing daydreams of revenge that ended with him getting his license AND winning a sports car into the bargain, and taking off for parts unknown with a supermodel in the passenger seat while Ha-san and Aya begged him to take them along with. And sometimes he even relented in these fantasies, but only if his friends agreed to ride in the trunk.

Finally, after nearly a full week and a half of the cold shoulder treatment from Hatori, Shigure made up his mind. Ha-san would accept nothing less than an apology.

Three days later, the Dog was ready to give his friend that apology.

He found Hatori reading beneath a shade tree not too far away from the Dragon's favorite Zen garden. A quick glance told the Dog that his friend was reading for class rather than pleasure -- a book, he noted with no small amount of smugness, that he'd already read.

Shigure stood for a moment, waiting for Hatori to acknowledge him. He knew how the other young man hated to be interrupted while he was reading. Any other time Shigure probably wouldn't have thought twice about disrupting the Dragon, but not when he was trying to make nice.

It took nearly a full minute for Hatori to look up. He didn't say anything; he merely regarded Shigure with a slight lift of the eyebrow.

"I just wanted to tell you, Ha-san, I realize now that I was wrong to borrow your license without asking, and I apologize."

Hatori blinked once. "You... apologize," he echoed.

"Yes. And I wanted to tell you that I'll never, ever do it again," Shigure said earnestly.

"...You won't?"

The Dog noted the faint sliver of incredulity in his friend's words. "No, I won't." He smiled. "I promise."

Hatori was quiet for a moment or two before nodding. "I accept your apology."

It wasn't any less than the Dog had expected, really. Hatori wasn't given to huge displays of affection -- he never had been. But Shigure smiled broadly down at his friend. "Thank you, Ha-san! I swear to you I'll never again betray your invaluable trust in such an underhanded mann--"

"Shut up. You already know where I keep my physics notebook."

And with that, Shigure nodded -- still smiling -- and trotted off to get Hatori's notes.

"...Shigure?"

He paused, looking over his shoulder. "Yes, Ha-san?"

"What happened?"

The Dog knew what the Dragon was asking, but he only gave his friend a bland smile. He patted the pocket that held the fake I.D. he'd procured the day before.

"I guess you could say I made other arrangements."