" Yo! Daisuke!", a far away voice called.
Daisuke Niwa, 14, turned his head to see his friend, Takeshi Saehara, also 14 and in his same class at his high school, run towards him.
"Hey, don't forget we have we have that end-of-unit science project due tomorrow. You're dead meat if you don't bring it!", Takeshi reminded him.
"Yeah, I know, I know. I just wish you would lay off. I'm not that stupid, haven't you noticed yet?" Daisuke replied. "At least I'm not as forgetful and lazy as you," He thought. He still hadn't forgiven Takeshi for the time when he had totally put off their project just to go to watch a new movie with his girlfriend, Mio Hio.
Daisuke shook his head as he walked away. Strolling down the street, he decided that he had enough time to stop at the book store to read a couple of mangas. Opening the door to the small shop, something on the ground attracted his attention.
"A wallet?" he thought as he bent to pick it up. Opening it, he saw a picture of two girls. One with short hair, and one with long hair. They looked very alike, maybe they were even twins. Daisuke looked at the school ID, and read the owner's name aloud.
"Riku Harada?" He glanced at the picture on the card. It was the short red haired girl. Finally, Daisuke remembered where he was. "I can't just leave this here. Maybe I'll take it to the police station…"
His thoughts drifted off as he heard a girl's voice yelling.
"Hey you! Have you seen a—" her voice cut off as she saw Daisuke holding the small wallet. "THAT'S MY WALLET! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" she shouted.
"Calm down!" Daisuke replied. He looked at the girl. Then he remembered. "Ah! Riku? Riku Harada? Don't worry, I was only gonna hand it in to the police." He smiled sweetly.
Riku blushed. "Yes, that's me! Now just give me my wallet back!" She thought for a moment. "How did you know my name anyways?"
"Well, wouldn't you check to see who the wallet belonged to if you saw it lying on the ground?" Daisuke laughed.
"Of course I would! I'm not stupid, you know!" Now Riku blushed harder than she ever had before. "He's so cute when he laughs and smiles… What am I thinking? I don't even know him!"
An awkward silence came between them. The short tempered red-haired girl noticed the smile the stranger had creeping onto his face as he looked at her. Riku noticed that the boy stood at least a head taller than her. He had messy red hair, calm eyes, and a cute smile...
"Cute? Cute? What amI thinking about?This guy's a total stranger! How can I even think he's cute?"
An amused voice broke her thoughts. "Anyone still there?" Daisuke stood there, still grinning.
Riku shook her head in embarrassment. "Um... Yes. I... you know.. have to go now. Um... Bye." She wheeled around, ran a few steps, and once again heard the boy call her name.
"Hey, Riku! Aren't you gonna take your wallet back? I mean, it's not worth it yelling about nothing..." Daisuke laughed once again.
Turning beet red, she jogged back to him."Thanks. Well.. Ah, I guess I'll see you around."
The tall boy smiled sweetly. "Yeah, see you around. Oh! Name's Daisuke Niwa by the way. See you, Riku!"
"Thanks... Daisuke." Making sure she had her wallet this time, she ran off.
"Riku, huh? She's kinda cute... and a pretty interesting girl." Daisuke thought. Looking in her direction one last time, he walked off. So much for an afternoon reading.