Akari's POV

That afterschool Natsumi and I decided to go hang out somewhere and cheer Mari up.

"Mari, is there anywhere you want to go?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm fine..." Just then her stomach growled.

"Yeah right," Natsumi scoffed.

"Then why don't we go eat at KyDonalds; it's nearby," I suggested.

Mari's eyes glistened. "KyDonalds??!! Yayyy let's go!!!" Mari's mood suddenly changed.

"Eh....? Fast food?" Natsumi looked confused.

"Why? You don't like fast food? Don't tell me you've never eaten fast food before?" I questioned.

"Erm.. yeah. I heard those have many calories in them and are unhealthy?"

"It is but it's super delicious!!" Mari exclaimed.

"Umm..I guess then let's go?" Natsumi murmured.

I feel like something was wrong with Natsumi but I kept silent. Normally she would be excited to try new food, but she's a bit different now. I wonder what's wrong?

>>>>>>>>>>>

The bell on the door chimed as we opened the shop's door. The shop was bustling with people and the smell of fries and burgers only made us hungrier. We went over to the counter and ordered our burgers, fries,etc. We had to queued in a line first, then our turn came. Mari was ahead of us, she was about to order, seems like she's hungry.

"Mari are you ordering first--" I was just about to ask.

"I would like two Meat Deluxe Kay Burger sets, three pieces of fried chickens, and a Kay Float please," Mari smiled as she finished giving her order.

"Is that for all three of you?" the lady from the counter asked as she tapped the orders on the computer.

"Umm no. It's just for me," Mari replied like it's nothing.

My jaws dropped when I heard what she just said. Natsumi's did too. The lady in the counter seemed surprised too.

"Ah... okay then," she responded.

"M-Mari...are you gonna eat all that?" I asked.

She turned and smiled at us, "Yup! Why?"

Mari is very graceful and ladylike. She's also really pretty and was a little shorter than average. Her orange hair was really silky and her big round yellow sparkly eyes stood out. She appears to be like a doll. It also looks like she takes care of her body well. Everything in her appearance say that she doesn't seem to be the type to eat a lot. But I can't believe that she eats this much. How does that much food even go into that small little body of hers??

"Are you sure you can finish all that?"

Instead of answering my question she just burst out laughing. Natsumi and I just stared and her, confused, and waited for her reply. "Ahahaha, of course, Akari-chan! I can even eat more than this. Come on, who can resist food?" she giggled.

"O-Oh, is that so?" I stumbled.

"Okay, your turn, Akari-chan!" Mari got out of the line and waited for us beside.

"Umm, I'll have a Teriyaki Kay Burger, please." I finished my order and took a step near Mari and waited for Natsumi to order.

"What would you like, Miss?" The staff asked.

"....uhh, a Caesar Salad please," Natsumi said in a small voice. "That's all...."

We stared at Natsumi with our eyes widened. She returned it with a small forced smile.

"Oh my god Natsumi-chan! I thought you eat a lot," Mari said.

"Yeah, you always bring big lunches," I added recalling the time she brought sashimi and other stuff.

"Aha..haha...," she got out of the line and we search for a table to sit, luckily there was only one available. "Actually I do |(￣3￣)|."

"Then why--"

"It's cuz of Eliz-chan!! >~<" she wailed all of the sudden. "Eliz-chan is soo mean!! She's making me go on a diet cuz I'm eating a lot more than usual," she cried.

Both of us stared blankly at her again and I snorted.

"WHAT WAS THAT AKI-CHAN?!" Then Mari began to giggle. She turned to both of us and tried to stop our laughters. "NOT YOU, TOO, MAA-CHAN!!"

"Natsumi, on a diet~!"

"Oh my god, Aki-chan!! Stop ittt!! Or I'm gonna cry!! It's not like I want to!! Eliz-chan is going to kill me if I don't listen to her!"

"Okay okay," I tried to stop laughing and search for something to distract myself. "Oh, right. Are you alright now, Mari?"

"Hm? Oh, yup! Ahahah you guys never fail to make me laugh," she let out a small giggle.

"That's great," I sighed in relief. 'Wait, why am I even worried. Why am I hanging out with them? WHY AM I LAUGHING?? What just happened to me?? I just got too carried away... but I already opened up to them. It's too late to turn back now' I slapped myself.

"Aki-chan? Why'd you just do that?"

"It's nothing," I quickly answered. Just then our orders were ready and the three of us went to take them. Then we went back to our seats and continued chatting as we ate. Mari sat beside me and Natsumi sat in front, facing Mari.

"Oh!! By the way, Aki-chan~. You seem to know Hirota Ken from class 1-B. What's your relationship with him~?" Natsumi elbowed me.

"Huh.. what do you mean??"

"Come'on I've seen you guys talk a couple of times before," Natsumi pouted and suddenly gasped, "Don't tell me.....you're one of the girls he's playing with??!"

"What?"

"Oh my, Akari-chan. You shouldn't do that. I heard that he broke lots of girls' hearts. He hangs out with many girls, too. Even our senpais fell for his devilish looks. But he'll only trick you, Akari-chan°・(＞_＜)・°," Mari warned.

"Yup Maa-chan's right," Natsumi continuously nodded her head.

"Why're you guys even telling me this??"

Natsumi gasped again, "Perhaps you're in love with him?!?"

"NOO!! What're you even saying?? You're all wrong!! It's not like that, okay??" I tried to explain.

"Then how do you know him??" Natsumi asked.

I started to explain the whole story from where I first met him in the library. "And he forced me to become his friend. Ugh, he's so annoying...," I sighed.

"Bwahahahah so you punched him?? I should've been there!!" Natsumi laughed. Mari also laughed silently, covering her mouth. "Aki-chan, I never knew you learned martial arts; that's incredible!!"

"Yup, I still couldn't thank you enough for saving me that day," Mari smiled sweetly.

"It's not that big of a deal," I said sheepishly.

"So, Aki-chan, you don't like that guy?"

"Eww no. Why would I like a guy like that bastard. He's such a flirt! It's disgusting. Moreover he calls me 'Elephant girl!!'"

"Omg ahahahahahah, Elephant girl??" both of them started laughing again.

"It's not funny!" I complained.

"Ahahah I thought if it was that Hirota Ken, he would give girls cute nicknames...but Elephant girl is just..." Natsumi bursted out laughing again. "Does he even see you as a girl?" she continued laughing.

"Pfft, who knows?"

"Ah! Speak of the devil," Mari interrupted. "He's here," she whispered as she look to the front.

Natsumi turned around and I didn't bother to look at him. "So it's him huh? He's with his friends and they're all carrying a tray each."

"They're coming this way!" Mari said. Natsumi and I just normally looked down again and continued to eat and chat like they're not there. Soon, they walked past our table and they stole a glance at us since we were wearing the same school uniforms as them.

"AH! If it isn't the Elephant Girl!!" Ken noticed and approached back to our table with a stupid grin on his face.

"Yeah, we should go there. I've been wanting to look at the clothes there," I ignored him and continued my talk with Natsumi and Mari.

"Uh.." Mari spoke. Natsumi rolled her eyes from me to him back and forth, signalling me that he's here. 'Of course I know he's here, both of you. I couldn't play pretend with these idiots so I turned to him.'

"Heh? Who knew we would meet here?" he held my hand, "Could this be destiny?" Just then I heard a click! I turned to Natsumi, she was holding her camera. 'Does she carry her camera everywhere she goes?'

"NATSUMI?! What did you just do?! Did you just take a picture?" I glowered at her. As I was angry, I unintentionally squeezed that bastard's hands by force.

"Ow ow ow!!! L-Let go!!" His friends started to laugh at how pathetic he looks.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," I gave in a small dark smile.

He smiled back nervously, "U-Uh, it's okay...," he said in a small voice and pulled back his hands.

>>>>>>>>>>>

"So, can someone explain to me why we're sitting together with these guys?!" I complained.

"It's not like we have any choice. The other tables are full," Ken shrugged.

"But why are you sitting beside me?" I growled.

"Umm... A-Akari-san right?" the brunette, Ryouta started. "We're sorry to trouble you, but we'll leave as soon as we find another empty table," he smiled anxiously.

"Come'on Aki-chan! Stop being so stingy ><! This place is too big for just the three of us anyways," Natsumi said. "Right? Maa-chan?"

"Imm," Mari simply nodded as she sipped on her coke.

"Tch...fine," I gave in. "Mari, do you mind switching place with me? I don't want to sit beside this bastard. Are you fine with this?" I whispered to Mari.

"Sure, it's fine," Mari whispered back.

"Thanks." 'As expected of Mari, she's so generous :') ' So we switched places.

"Ehh?? You didn't want to sit beside me?" Ken whined. "Not that it matters," he hold Mari's chin up and stare into her eyes, "cuz you're really cute too."

"Uhh.." Mari blushed and averted her eyes away from his.

"What do you think you're--" As Natsumi and I was about to talk we were cut off.

"Ken, stop it, she looks uncomfortable..." Shou stepped in as he sipped on his coke casually.

"Okay, okay~"

Then I remembered something important. "Natsumi, aren't you forgetting something?" I smiled evilly. "The. Picture."

"Aha...ha..ha..." Natsumi looked away as she scratched her head.

"Delete it."

"No way!" She take a look at the picture. "Omg you guys look really good together!! LOOK!!" Natsumi turned the camera and show us the picture.

"Hehh, that's so cutee," Mari giggled.

"Oooo!! That looks great!! Send me the picture!!" Ken winked.

"Sure thing!" Natsumi winked back and chuckled at me.

"Give me that camera!" I stood up and tried to snatch for the camera. Natsumi also stood up and back away trying to make the camera out of my reach. Just when I was about to grab it, she fall back on the seat-- on Ryouta.

Ken raised his eyebrows and smirked as he whistled, Natsumi looked up and their eyes met with Ryouta's. They were in that positioned for a while--both of them were froze. Ryouta broke the silence first with a cough, "Ahem." Natsumi snapped back into reality and immediately moved away from Ryouta.

"I'M SO SORRY!!!" Natsumi lowered her head to apologized.

"N-No, it's okay," Ryouta waved his hands.

"Now who's shipping who?" I smirked as Mari giggled.

"W-What are you saying?? Aki-chan, you know that I like someone else!!" Her face turned red. "And this was an accident!!" She got up, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," Natsumi said.

"A-Ah sure," Ryouta said as he and Shou move out for Natsumi to go through.

"Ryou, you're turning bright red, too," Ken teased.

"H-Huh? I'm nottt!!" Ryouta pouted and cupped his own cheeks.

>>>>>>>>>>>

None of the other tables were still available so we ended up finishing our meal together till the end. I gazed out the window, it's going to get dark soon. This is around the time I'd be going back home from school after I finish reading. I heard a vibration sound from Natsumi. 'I think she got a message?' She looked at her phone and went pale.

"Ahaha, Aki-chan, Maa-chan, everyone... I have to go somewhere else so I've got to go home now. Sorry, Aki-chan, we usually go home together since we live near. Sorry Maa-chan... although the three of us always go home together T_T"

"Oh, it's fine, Natsumi-chan. My house is near here," Mari smiled.

"Yeah, it's okay for me, too, I can go home by myself."

"I'm okay with Maa-chan since her house is near but are you sure you're gonna be fine, Aki-chan? I'm worried..."

"Yea--"

"I'll go with her then," Ken stepped in.

"Huh? No."

"Hehh~ So it's like that, huh? Okay~ then I'll leave her in your care. Maa-chan, Aki-chan, bye bye~" Natsumi left. 'She never listens -.-'

And so, the 5 of us headed out of the shop. Mari parted her way first and Ryouta left when we got the corner of the road. Soon, it started to get awkward with the three of us.

"Oh right, Ken, I just remembered that I gotta do something. Sorry, see ya later," Shou grinned and waved. "Make sure you send back Akari-chan safely~"

"We're all alone now~" Ken beamed and leaned closer to me.

"Don't you dare try to pull anything off."

"I won't. I won't. Geez, you never change, elephant girl," he pulled back. "I guess we live in the same district. That Natsumi girl also live in this district huh?" Ken started.

"Yeah."

"This street is pretty quiet in the evening; it's scary," he glanced around inspecting every corner being cautious. Then, we heard a sound of plastic being stepped on. Ken look behind and infront and to the sides, he saw nothing. "H-Hey....what was that? D-Do you think it was a ghost? Ah, even if it is, I-I'll protect you don't worry. Later, a trash bin fell on it's own. "Ekkk!!" Ken grabbed onto me.

"Meow~" A stray cat came out of the alleyway. "I-I knew it! It was just a cat....thank god," he muttered the last part.

I stared at him in disappointment. 'Seriously, this guy....'

"Am I supposed to be protecting you right now?" I looked at his hands that were grabbing my arms. He instantly took his hands back.

"N-No..." he murmured. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, so I was holding you." I rolled my eyes and walked ahead of him, soon we arrived at my home. "I'm going in now. Bye."

"Yeah. See ya tomorrow~" he waved at me.

"Can you even go back home alone?" I scoffed.

"Of course I can! >\\\\< " He wailed. "What? Are you worried~?" He snickered.

"If you say so, hope a ghost kidnaps you," I turned away.

"Hey! Don't jinx it!!!" I ignored him and went inside. 'Does he actually think a ghost can kidnap him?'

The house was strangely quiet. There was some snacks for me on the table but I didn't see Granny. I put the snacks in the fridge for later and went to her room to check on her. She'd already turn the lights off... I tiptoed to her bed and saw her sleeping. She must be tired. I hope Granny's well... she would usually wait for me to get home.

I sat on her bed beside her and whispered, "Granny, I'm back. Today was a great day! Granny you know what? I made some friends and I had a lot of fun with them today," I giggled, "I hope this will last....." I got off the bed.

"Sleep well, Granny."

A/N: Hey guys~! We'll now be updating on Wednesdays and Sundays for 2 weeks!!! We want to hurry up and catch up with the old version of our story so we gotta write more!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~ Don't forget to vote and comment :)))))

- Kuroi & Yukine