Forewords:

I'd like to thank everyone who fav , followed and reviewed my 1st story. They are few BUT they are more than enough to keep me writing stories for Furthershipping. Let me just tell you that I'll keep on making stories for the shipping as long as there are no canon pairing for Ash.

This is the 2nd story that I came up with and I personally liked this better than the 1st one I made.

Well without further ado , proceed to the 1st chapter of the story and please review and give honest and constructive criticism. Enjoy!

I woke up at the ring of my alarm and it annoys the hell out of me every morning but I guess that's what alarms are for. I'm still pretty groggy so I lied at my bed for at least five more minutes before I let myself out. There's really nothing special about this day except that school resumes again after the long holidays. I kinda hated it, though there are things that I like about school as well, such as hanging out with my friends Shigeru, Calem and Yuuki but my favourite would be attending the soccer club though we only meet every Wednesdays and Fridays. When I got up, I did my usual morning routine. Work out to keep me in shape, take a quick shower, brush my teeth and then wear my school uniform. I went out of my room and proceeded to the kitchen where I saw mom making breakfast.

"Mornin', mom." I greeted her.

"Good morning, honey" She greeted back.

I sat down at the dining table while waiting for mom to finish her cooking and took out my phone to check some messages. "Spams" I said as I saw that my inbox was full of them. It's more annoying than that alarm of mine. Oh well, I guess I'll just delete them one by one. As I scrolled down, one message caught my attention. It was from Leaf, my neighbour and my childhood friend. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. We've been through a lot. Through rough and tough, we were always there for each other. We were basically inseparable. Though that closeness sometimes comes with a price.

1st off, my friends won't stop teasing us of being a couple. I'm not as dense as I used to when I was 10 so I know what the guys are talking about and really, it makes me feel uncomfortable around Leaf. We're not a couple. I repeat, we're not a couple….but…Ahh, nevermind.

2nd is that Leaf knows most of my secrets and she'd sometimes use them against me. Just like that one time when we had an argument to which movie we should watch. She wanted a clichéd romantic movie while I wanted to see that exclusive anime movie that I've been waiting for years. And you know who won? You've guessed it. We ended up watching that lame drama of hers. How did it happen? Well, she simply threatened me that she'd tell my friends about that time when I had an 8th grade syndrome where I kept pretending I was Red, that trainer that I used to idolize so much In the Pokemon games. Ugh, that memory is haunting me. Sometimes I just wish I could go back in the past and smack myself in the face.

Lastly is this; Leaf is always watching after me. "Sato-kun, have you done your homework?" Sato-kun, were you studying for the exams?" "Sato-kun this, Sato-kun that". She's always checking up on me. She was like my 2nd mother or something. Heck, even mom isn't that strict. I read her text message: "Meet me at the central park. Don't be late." The message ends there.

I sighed and walked to the kitchen and took a toasted bread. I decided that I might as well leave earlier than usual. I told mom that I'm not going to bother waiting for the breakfast and just be on my way now.

At least the weather looks fine today. The sun is shining bright, the air feels nice and there aren't too many people walking on the streets. Hey, maybe leaving early isn't that bad. I can get used to this. Just some few more minutes of walking, I arrived at the park that Leaf was talking about. I scanned the place for any signs of my brunette friend and I found her wearing her casual school uniform sitting close to a fountain and it seemed like she's fixing her hair. Leaf saw me as well as she waved her left hand to me. Looks like she just got here herself. "Sato-kun, I never thought you'd arrive this early." She said to me as her jaw dropped, couldn't believe how early I was. If only she knew that it was because of her that I had to leave earlier. Yeah, because of….Leaf.

"I just woke up too early and I got curious how it would feel like leaving home earlier than usual." I explained to her. Then she patted me on the head and said "good job! If only you can be like that every morning." like I was some kind of a kid. Ugh, hate it when she does that.

We started walking towards school side by side and we've been doing that since kindergarten. There's really nothing special about it, at least until 8th grade when our classmates started to accuse us of being a couple. I think that was the 1st time I actually became aware of this whole "love" business. I felt awkward around Leaf after that. The following days, I decided to walk to school alone. It's kinda lonely having no one to talk to at first but I'd rather have that than to endure all those 'boyfriend and girlfriend' teasing. However, that didn't last.

After a week of not going to school with Leaf, I've noticed that she would always arrive late. Not only that. She stopped talking to me. She would usually ignore me whenever I try to start a conversation with her. She doesn't want to reply to any of my text messages and whenever I visit her at their house, her mother would always tell me that Leaf doesn't want to see me. It made me feel bad. I felt like I betrayed my best friend and that I've scarred our friendship, all because of those stupid teasing. I asked myself, "So what's more important to you, Satoshi? Your reputation or your friend? Those jerks who knows nothing but to give you headache or your friend who has always been there for you?" Well the answer was simple.

The next day, I was supposed to wait for Leaf at their house early in the morning but I woke up way too late. I cursed myself for my own irresponsibility. Mental note to self; stop playing Pokemon at late nights. Since that plan failed, I had to set plan B in motion; wait for her after class.

The bell rang signalling the end of school. I waited for her outside the school gate and it took me almost two hours for her. If I knew I had to wait that long, I should have brought my 3DS so that I could have at least entertained myself while waiting. I facepalmed myself when I realized that Leaf had to attend the student council that time so it's natural that she'd go home late.

Well at least waiting for her bared fruit. I finally saw her leaving the school ground with some of her friends. "Oh man" I thought to myself. I didn't want to deal with those girls. I just decided to suck it up and face Leaf regardless so there I went, I stood up in front of her, halting the girls' conversation. I looked at her straightforward without any signs of hesitation. "Leaf?" I started. "There's something that I want to say to you". She and the girls had surprised looks in their faces but Leaf changed her expression. "There's nothing to talk to you about." She said to me coldly. "Leaf, please. Let me explain." I responded. It's a good thing that the other girls picked up the air as they decided to leave us alone. "Have fun you two lovebirds." One of the girls said. "Ri-chan, this is your chance to set things straight with your boyfriend." Said the other one. My face heated up for being called Leaf's 'boyfriend. "He's not my boyfriend, guys." I heard her saying. Her friends kept giggling as they walked away from us. Finally, I thought they'd never leave. That was unnerving. I scratched the back of my head and faced Leaf again who was now looking down at the ground. We remained in silence for at least 10 seconds before I finally spoke up.

"I know why you're angry at me, Leaf. I know that I screwed up a lot and I'm sorry." I apologized to her. I couldn't see her eyes since her hair was blocking them but I could tell that she was really sad. I continued talking to her even though she hasn't said one word. It hurts so much but I know that she had felt more pain than I did when I started avoiding her in school.

"I let my pride get through me. I can't really endure all those teases that the other students are giving us and it really annoyed me so I decided that I should avoid being seen with you." When I said those last lines, I realized what they meant and I slapped myself in my mind for saying that. "Ah, don't get me wrong. It's not that I think you're embarrassing to be with or anything. It's just…." I trailed off. "It's just what?" I heard her said finally. I was feeling really awkward that time. My stomach was feeling fuzzy, my heart was racing and I was getting cold sweats. "I—it's just yo-you know. This." Those were the only lines that came out of my mouth. I was really having a hard time putting up words in a proper sentence.

"What?" I heard her say again. "I-i-i-t's, uhh. I mean. T-th-th-th-" I was really stuttering so badly and it was embarrassing. Good thing that we were the only ones around the school gate back then. She sighed and began walking away from me. "You know, if you don't want to say it, that's fine. Let me ju-" I stopped her by grabbing her right arm. I finally had the guts to tell her. "I'm not used to those kind of things. I don't know what to do. At first it didn't bother me but when the teasings continued, it started to get through me." I explained to her. "When I looked at you, I kept thinking of us being-" I gulped and my hands were shaking. "being a couple and I'm not used to that feeling and I know how much it hurts you and I'm sorry for making you feel like that." I followed. I really felt bad that time but at least I was able to release the pain that I've been enduring the whole time and trust me, it wasn't that easy. She didn't respond to me immediately as she just continued to walk away from me. For a second I thought that she doesn't want to forgive me anymore but she suddenly stopped mid-way.

"I'll forgive you." She said. "But under one condition." Leaf then turned around facing me with that very familiar smile of hers. Everytime she gives me that, my guts are telling me something big is coming my way. "What's that?" I asked.

"You'll buy me ice cream everyday starting today." She said. I blinked twice as I didn't expected that one. "That's it? That's all she wanted in return?" I thought. Buying ice cream everyday is not really a punishment since I can do that for her anytime. I know I messed up a lot but I felt like she was going easy on me. If it were another girl, I would have received a much more severe punishment or that she'd never forgive me at all. I told her that it was fine with me. "Great!" She said as she grabbed me on my sleeves and we went to the ice cream parlor. She seemed okay again. I know she's very kind and all but I never would have thought she'd be this kind, to me specially. I guess that's one good feature Leaf has. Kind, friendly, smart and matured. She knows when and where to put things in their proper place. I'm very lucky to have her as a friend but I think I'm taking her for granted sometimes. Stupid stupid me.

I was glad that we were good friends again but I vowed to myself never to do anything idiotic that will involve Leaf ever because one, I don't want to destroy our friendship and two, Leaf is the last person that wanted to disappear in my life.

Finally, we reached school. I always feel lazy going here but today, I feel like it isn't so bad. Seriously, there's something about early mornings that will make you appreciate your entire surroundings. Maybe this is why Leaf is always on a good mood.

We said goodbye to each other for now since we're in different homeroom classes. She's in class 2-A while I'm in class 2-D. Leaf is really smart so it's normal that she belongs to the best class. On the other hand, there's me who's pretty average. Average grades, average performance, average at almost everything except maybe in video games and soccer. It's not so bad and I'm more than satisfied with that.

I approached my locker and replaced my shoes with the school ones. When I looked back at my locker, I noticed a familiar object inside. "Ugh, not again." I said to myself. It was a white envelope with a heart shaped stamp and I know who it belongs to. The school idol and foreign exchange student, Serena. Long honey-blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and a very feminine figure. She came from the west in the country of Kalos. Serena is very popular in school as the boys admire her so much while most girls couldn't help but to feel jealous or intimidated to her beauty. I think there is no one in school that doesn't know her. She's basically the star here and who would've thought that this pretty girl will be interested with an average guy like me? I received another one of her 'love' letters and it all began when she just transferred recently and I had to help her.

She got lost on her way to the classroom when I happened to be close to her that time. She asked me if I could help her show the way to her class which I did since I'm very familiar with the school anyway. When we got to her class, her homeroom teacher, Musashi sensei was very furious of her for being late for the third time. She began to cry as she kept apologizing but I defended her. I made up a fake situation just to cover her up and I'm glad that the old hag bought it. She let Serena off but it was my turn to be scolded. That grumpy hag really needs to lay off the students. I mean hey, it's not our fault she can't find a boyfriend and now she's turning her frustration on us. I guess she's going to die alone. I feel sorry for her. When I looked at Serena, I can see the admiration in her eyes and her blushes were pretty obvious but I shrugged them off and waved her goodbye. After that incident, I've been receiving letters from her almost everyday. The first ones, she gives them to me in person. Sometimes, she even dares to enter our room during lunch breaks just to give me her letters. I'm always getting embarrassed whenever she does that and I can tell that sharp eyes glaring at me.

"Lucky bastard",

"What the hell? Why him of all people?"

"Arceus! What's so special about him?"

"Isn't he dating Ri-chan? What a two-timer. Now he's going for Serena-san as well?"

"Ri-chan and Serena-san, two beauties dating a slacker like him? This world is ending."

I can really feel the angst they were throwing at me and it's making me uncomfortable. I told Serena that I appreciate the thought but I told her not to give me letters in person anymore. She seemed sad when I said that but she agreed nonetheless. A couple of days later though, she had her letters sent to me through my locker and that's been a norm ever since. I don't rip her letters since I don't want to be rude at her and it will make me feel like a bad person. Instead, I just put them inside my bag unopened and when I get home, I put them in my shoeboxes and let me tell ya', I already got crap-loads of them in my room already. I kept that as a secret to Leaf since I don't want her to think negatively but I think I should tell her anyway. We did promise that we should never keep any secrets from each other and that we have to stay honest. Plus, I'm sure she'll understand if I explained it to her properly.

I placed the letter inside my bag then I began walking towards the classroom. When I arrived, I saw the three stooges talking and laughing at their antics like usual. They stopped when they saw me coming their way and much like Leaf earlier, they too were surprised by my early arrival. "Yo, Satokichi! You're early today!" greeted Shigeru who was sitting on top of the desk with his arms crossed. "Did something happen? You never arrive this early" Said Calem while sitting on his chair like any normal students do. "Maybe Ri-chan made him wake up early. She can be so commanding after all." Yuuki said who was leaning on the wall with his hands inside his pocket. "Well that's one hell of a 'hello from you guys" I said to them as I approached my friends. These are the guys that I've been with ever since I was a kid.

Yuuki is the comic relief of the group. He loves pulling pranks on the teachers and his favourite victim is Musashi sensei. We always laugh at his crazy jokes and we would always wonder what kind of prank he'll pull out next. But Yuuki can be scary as well. There was this one time when he found out that Shu was fliriting with his neighbour, Haruka-san. Shu is a pretty boy in school who can woo any girls with his charms easily. When Yuu-kun found out that Shu was hitting on Haruka-san, he'd beaten the living crap out of him, making Shu's pretty face turn into abomination. He was almost expelled from school because of that. It's a good thing that Haruka-san defended Yuuki.

Then there's Calem. Calm and timid, living up to his own name. He's the opposite of Yuuki. Calem doesn't really talk much and he'd prefer listening to stories rather than tell one. Though there's one interesting story he shared to us. He said that he visited Kalos once when his family went on a vacation. He also said that he already met Serena there and that he was the one who told her to visit Kanto. If anything, I think this guy likes Serena. Better not let him know about the new letter I received. When Serena was giving me those letters personally, I know that he's one of the guys who got jealous but he just wouldn't tell me since he doesn't want to ruin our friendship and he knows that I'm not into her.

And finally my friend and rival, Shigeru. He is well known in school since his grandfather, Okido-san is the owner. But Shigeru doesn't like living under his grandfather's shadow. Instead, he made his own name through soccer when he became our team captain. Shigeru and I used to compete to see who's going to be captain but since he has more skills than me, he got the role. Besides, I've been slacking off lately after I received my 3ds so there's that. Shigeru's popularity doesn't stop there. He is also currently in relationship with the richest girl in school, Hikari Berlitz, the heir and only daughter of the Berlitz family. I remember during the semi-finals, Hikari-san donned her cheerleading outfit just so she could root for her boyfriend and since she was rich, she had her set of bodyguards cheering for him as well. They even had a VIP room rented personally that time. If I were her boyfriend, I would have felt too embarrassed already but it was the opposite for Shigeru as his girlfriend's support actually gave him motivation to win the game. Luckily, we did.

I sat down on my chair and placed my bag under the table's desk. Since it was still early, I decided to join my friends' crazy conversation.

"As I was saying earlier" Yuuki started "This place has everything I need. I'm tellin' ya! This is my chance!"

"What place? What plan?" I asked having no idea what they were talking about earlier.

"Apparently, Yuu-kun found a place in Yamabuki and he's planning to take Haru-chan there for a date. I just hope he doesn't get dumped after all the things he'll be doing for her." Calem explained to me as he sighed.

Yamabuki, the biggest city in the country. It is where the biggest malls and casinos are found and many people always go there for recreational purposes and family bonding. I suppose it's not surprising that couples would want to go on a date there as well. So Yuuki is planning to take Haruka-san in Yamabuki. I agree with Calem, I hope he doesn't get dumped. Haruka-san has an optimistic, friendly and sometimes, childish personality. However, she's not very open with her feelings, with boys particularly. I haven't really seen her having any affection towards anyone, Yuuki included so I bid him goodluck and hopefully, he doesn't add up to the "Friendzoned" list.

"Okay! It's settled. We're going to Yamabuki this coming weekend!" Yuuki said as he raised his fist up in the air.

"Provided that Haruka-chan agrees." Shigeru smirked. "How do you plan on asking her anyway?"

Yuuki's expression suddenly changed from happy to feeling defeated. He slowly lowered his arm at the realization of the possibility that Haruka-san might decline. "I-I'll think of a way. I won't lose hope." He said as his determination suddenly kicked in.

"Right. *ahem*, what about you, Calem? Any plans?" Shigeru asked as he turned his eyes to Calem.

"M-me!? I don't have anyone to date!" Calem cried in defence.

"Yeah and I'm the game designer of Nintendo." Shigeru said sarcastically "Spill out the beans already. We know that you're into Serena-san. Well, I wouldn't be surprised. All other guys in school are head over heels for her." He then looked at me for a couple of seconds.

"What?" I asked.

"Except for this guy that is." He said to me in a curious voice.

"Whatever" Is the only response I gave to him.

He then looked back at Calem who appears to be uncomfortable for being the focus of the current topic. "You better do something. You got a lot of competitions out there. You're lucky that you met her first so you already have an edge to her since you both knew each other."

"NO WAY!" Calem shouted as he stood up slamming his hands on the desk. Needless to say, each one of our classmates reacted and they looked at our direction. Calem suddenly sat down feeling embarrassed for what he just did.

"S-sorry. You know I can't ask Serena-san. I don't have the guts to do so. Besides…" He then looked at me with a hint of disappointment. "If there's anyone, I'm sure she'll want to date you, Sato-kun."

Ugh, dang it. Of all the people, why me? "I'm not going on a date with Serena-san. I'm not interested." I assured him.

"But she's really into you." Calem said again. "You're so lucky. You haven't done anything but you got her affection. What's your trick?"

Honestly, I'm not liking this kind of conversation and it's starting to get in my nerves. "I don't have any tricks, okay? As far as I know, I only helped her once and then for some odd reason, she suddenly saw me as a 'knight-in-shining-armour or something. Look, I'm not going out with any girls. Period." I said to him.

"What about Ri-chan?" Yuuki asked.

I felt my heart beat faster than normal when I heard Leaf's name and the idea of dating her. "Go out on a date with Leaf?" I asked myself.

"I'm starting to get suspicious of you, Satokichi. Don't tell me… you prefer boys." Shigeru teased.

I got frustrated again for what he just said. "I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!" It was my turn to burst out as I stood up from my chair like what Calem just did earlier and once again, our classmates turned their attention to us.

"Sorry." I apologized as I sat back.

"Then why won't you take either Serena-san or Ri-chan on a date?" Yuuki asked.

I didn't bother responding anymore as I rested my head on my left arm while I gazed out of the window. It was a good thing that our homeroom teacher, Takeshi-sensei finally arrived saving my skin from that terrible topic. However, there's this one question that bugged me: Go out on a date….with Leaf? We've been friends for so long and we've been hanging out a lot but I haven't really taken her on any date even if it's just a friendly one. This is really annoying. A date with Leaf? Maybe…

We started the day with the typical history class. We had to refresh everything we tackled before the long holidays and it was a killer. I almost forgot what we had learned that time and I'm scared that we might get a pop quiz or something. Thankfully there aren't any but Takeshi-sensei suddenly did a random roll-calling and had to ask some questions and his first victim is none other than yours truly. At least his questions are pretty easy as I was able to answer them without a problem, well come to think of it, Leaf did told me to study well even during the holidays so I guess that really helped out. I have to thank Leaf for that. We resumed class like usual. Nothing really special out of the ordinary as time went by. After history, we have English class which Natsume–sensei handles. Unlike history, I find English interesting but I felt like it ended faster. I guess it's true that time goes faster than normal if you are enjoying something.

Lunch break, finally. I got hungry with all those lessons that we tackled in class. I went down to the cafeteria to see what they'll serve today. Looks like there are many students here already so I better get in line before I get nothing but the left-overs. However, before I could even fall in line, I saw the particular honey-blonde girl looking out for me. Ah, here we go again.

Serena approached me and I noticed that she was carrying a box. From what I can tell, it seems a bento box. "S-Sato-kun!? H-here!" She said shaking as she handed me the box. I took the bento before she could even drop it on the floor due to her nervousness. "Why are you giving me this?" I asked her. She said that it's something that she made on her own for the first time and that she wanted me to be the first one to try it. Serena also wanted me to eat it along with her but I humbly declined. It's kinda awkward to have her watch me eat plus, I'm already getting deadly stares from everyone around us.

"Him again!?"

"Serena-san, why are you even bothering with this guy?"

"I wish Serena-san would make a bento for me as well"

"Damn, what kind of luck does he have?"

"I'd do anything just to have a pretty girl prepare dishes for me"

She seemed sad but I've already had enough attentions for today. I thanked her properly for the bento as I walked away from the cafeteria. It still feels ridiculous receiving something from her but hey, I got free food today so I won't complain! I decided that I might as well go to my not-so-sacred hideout which is the rooftop. No students are actually allowed up there so it's locked or so they think. I have my own customized key that I can use to open the door so I have no problem entering the roof. No one really bothers to check so I don't have to worry of getting caught just as long as I don't get seen from below. I took my usual spot and sat there and opened the bento Serena made for me. When I opened it, the first thing that I noticed were the red tomatoes lined up to form a heart and on the middle is what looked like a creature that I know pretty well. It was a simple Pikachu head drawn with mayonnaise, raisins for the eyes and ketchup for the cheeks. Looks like she knows my favourite Pokemon but I wonder who told her. I snapped the pair of chopsticks and started to dig in. Hmm, not bad at all. I actually love this. If she gives me this everyday, I might have to ask her for more and I might get spoiled.

"Enjoying the scenery?" A familiar voice said behind me. I wasn't aware of the presence since I was distracted by the food. Needless to say, I was surprised and got scared of the thought that I might have been caught but when I looked behind, I saw the face of my bestfriend.

"LEAF!?" I called her name while in relief that it was just her and not some school staff. Though her face is being blocked from the sun, I can actually see Leaf smiling at me. She sat down beside me as she laid down her own bento on the ground.

"How did you know I'm up here?" I asked her.

"Hmm, that bento looks good." She said ignoring my question. "Did you make it?"

I looked at my unfinished bento and knowing who it belongs to I immediately hid it behind me. "I-uhh, I'm not sure what you're talking about." I said trying to hide the box even though it was obvious that she has already seen it. Leaf giggled at my own silliness.

"You don't have to hide it and I know who made it." She said as she also opened her own bento.

"I just really can't ignore her." I said scratching the back of my head.

Leaf didn't say anything after that. She just ate her own lunch and I decided to join her as well. When we were done, we stayed on the same place for a while enjoying the silence and the view in front of us.

"Thanks for reminding me to study during holidays." I said breaking the silence. "It actually paid off when Takeshi-sensei had to ask questions."

Leaf shook her head in disagreement. "It's all because you actually studied. You have yourself to thank for that." She told me.

Yeah, I should really give myself a credit for once. Still, I could not have done that if she didn't remind me.

"Well lunch break is almost over. We better head back to our class." I said to her I stood up. I offered Leaf my hand which she gladly took and helped her stand up as well.

"Wait Sato-kun" She said halting me from walking. She came closer to me and lifted her right hand and took something from my face. "You got some rice on your face."

I suppose I didn't notice that but damn, for a second I thought my heart stopped when she got closer to me! "Thanks" I said.

"Okay, let's go."

I closed the door and locked it making sure that it doesn't look like it was opened at all. Then, I observed my surroundings and made sure that no one is around before me and Leaf walked away from the stairs leading to the rooftop. We're finally at the hallway outside of our classrooms. Before I entered, Leaf called my name. "It was fun being up there." She said. "Do you mind sharing it with me again?"

"Sure. That would be nice." I told her as I smiled. I really enjoyed the silence and with Leaf up there, I think I'm going to like that place even more. She was happy that I allowed her. "See you afterschool" she said as she returned to her class.

The class resumed like usual. We had chemistry next courtesy of Katsura-sensei. It had been a pretty slow lecture the whole time and I'm actually getting sleepy but I'm trying my best not to dowse off. Katsura-sensei is pretty strict and I don't want to stand outside of the classroom again for four hours but come to think of It, that'd be much better because I don't have to listen to his boring lessons about chemical reactions and stuff. I'm not a science nerd so I don't think I can ever understand how they'll work.

The bell rang signalling the end of school. "Finally" I said as I stretched my arms upward and gave a loud yawn indicating that I've been really sleepy the whole time. I took my bag and went outside the classroom where I waited for Leaf to come out of her own classroom.

"Yo, Sato-kun" Yuuki greeted me. "We're going to hang around the arcade district later. Meet us at the usual store, okay?"

"I think I'll pass today" I replied. There's something inside my mind right now so I don't feel like hanging around with my friends.

"What's the matter?" Calem asked me.

I scratched my nose as I looked away. I don't really want to tell them because it's kind of embarrassing and it involves a certain 'someone.

"I get it." Shigeru then said looking at me with those irritating looks of his. "You want to spend more time with your girlfriend. Am I right, Satokichi?"

"Is that so? Well why didn't you tell us sooner?" Yuuki said as he patted my back playfully while letting out a giddy laugh.

"Leaf is not my girlfriend!" I corrected them. "Look, There's just something in my mind right now and-." As I said those, all three of them looked at me in curiosity. "And that would be?" They all asked at the same time.

I was taken back. I have no plans of spilling out whatever I'm thinking right now and just as I was about to say anything, Leaf appeared behind me.

"Hey guys." She greeted us.

"Hey, Ri-chan." Calem greeted.

"Yo, how's it hangin'?" asked Shigeru

"You seemed happy today" Yuuki was the last one to speak.

"Well let's just say I had a great time during lunchbreak." Leaf replied as she looked at me and winked. I blushed a little when she did that.

"C'mon we better get going. Let's not make the ice cream man wait" She added as she took my arm pulling me away from my friends. "Sorry guys but I'm borrowing this one for now."

"Don't mind us." Shigeru said as I saw him with a smirk on his face.

"You two have fun now." Yuuki added while Calem was just smiling at us as he tries to hold back his laughter. Oh man, I'm going to have one hell of an interrogation from them tomorrow.

It was already 4:45pm when Leaf and I arrived at the ice cream parlour where we would usually eat ice cream. As usual, I paid for both treats which doesn't really matter to me. There are times that Leaf would usually decline my offer to treat her and she would just buy one for herself but I would tell her that it's okay with me. I got Leaf her favourite strawberry sundae with some chocolate sprinkles on top while I got myself a plain vanilla flavour. It's not that I'm being cheap or anything but for some reason the plainness of this ice cream just seemed perfect for me.

"Ah, this tastes like heaven!" Leaf seemed to enjoy her ice cream. It's pretty evident with that smile of hers, those sparkling hazel eyes and those pinkish blushes on her cheeks. I can't help but to smile myself. Just seeing Leaf happy like that makes me happy either. And yet again, that one particular thing that I was thinking earlier came back in my mind.

"That was really good. Okay, we should go home now, Sato-kun…. Sato-kun?"

"Leaf?"

"….What is it?"

"…..Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

...

Aaand Cliff-hanger. As much as I wanted to continue with Ash's POV, I have to cut it from here. Don't ya' just hate it when that happens? Well, I do need to keep you guys thrilled for the next chapter (haha, revenge!) *cough* I already know how that feels.

Anyway, I actually liked how this turned out. It's pretty heart-warming without any cheesy romantic moments to ruin it (Oh wait, there ARE some cheesy moments. :/). Well, this chapter is all about Ash and Leaf's deep friendship and how much they mean for each other.

I also liked how Leaf turned out here. She was a matured, kind and understanding girl while Ash in some way is kind of her opposite. I kinda feel bad that I made Ash whiny, irritated and lazy but that's normal for most boys in early teens, 'ya know. Still, he is an understanding and humble person so there's that.

The next chapter will be told in Leaf's POV and it will be about her date with Ash. Expect some shippy moments, peeps but I still won't make too cheesy and no, this will not turn into one of those romantic dinner date.

I really feel like I made a slice-of-life anime for this story and I'm lovin' it. In the future, I might add up some few more characters and build some interesting stories surrounding them but for now, I hope you liked this chapter and do look forward to the next one, which might take a while for me to upload but I assure you that it will not take more than one week for me to do so.

One last thing, you can check the next page after chapter one for information regarding the characters, places and some few trivias that were in this chapter.

Anyway, please, rate, fav and most importantly, review and give your honest opinion and tell me how you feel about the story. Bye for now.