Chapter Two

"I'm sorry!" Haruki's face went completely cherry red as he was in an awkward position. Some males would be delighted to be at that angle.

"Shhh..." she whispered. He immediately stood up as he looked at her again. She had on a very light pink jacket and skirt. A dark red shirt and bow was beneath the mini coat. Her leggings were white and went up to her upper thighs. The female had on brown shoes that seemed church appropriated. Her eyes were crimson red and her lengthy black silky hair was in pigtails, but they still went down to her knees. On her right shoulder was a black cat.

"You...You're...!" Haruki blinked as she tilted her head in confusion. "You're the girl from my dream!"

"Stop yelling," she ordered with her hands on her hips. The youth was about the same age and height as him, but a tiny bit smaller. Her presence felt similar to the figure in the constant dreams, which creeped him out a little. Just as he opened up his mouth she leapt into the woods and disappeared.

"Wait!" Haruki yelled. He ran ahead as he felt the loose tree branches poking at his attire, and vines along the ground causing him to almost trip. The over shadow of the trees made it seem darker than the afternoon sunlight. He eventually reached another open area as he stopped. 'Great. She probably got offended and headed home.'

Just as he shifted his right foot he heard a cracking sound as if someone was nearby. He glanced around and felt himself sweat as his heart was throbbing within his chest. "Hello?" The noise came closer as he then saw it.

Standing about twenty feet away was a shadow with illuminating emerald eyes. It looked like the shape of a person, but more loose like a child's drawing of a ghost. It crept closer as another one was behind it, and two more were exposed.

"N...No..." They were surrounding him as they reached for him, close enough to grab him as he felt himself being engulfed by their aura. Just as the shadows were two feet away from Haruki, the sound of a gun went off, and one of them was shot with a pink beam of light. Shortly after another one fell, and so did the remaining creatures.

"What the heck is going on?!" Haruki wailed. He had backed himself onto a tree, as his eyes were so wide that he felt like crying. A moment later the same girl fell from above and stood obverse of him.

"Shut up," she uttered. The lass grasped his shirt, tugged him, and pulled him about fifty feet away from there, or deeper into the woods. Once they were a bit far off she let go. "Do that again and I won't save your butt." She folded her arms as Haruki glanced over her body, and then narrowed his green eyes.

"So...Who are you?" he inquired. The cat was still sitting there as it gave off an uneasy stare.

"My name is Tomoko," she answered. "You're Haruki and I know all about you, so save your breath." The boy flinched as he went speechless. "You just ran into some Frames."

"A Frame?" he repeated. The cat jumped off her shoulder as it walked around for a bit.

"Yeah. It's like an emissary. Once it finds a target it traps the enemy by multiplying itself and eventually pinning down the prey. But that's not why I'm here."

"Are there more of those? And how do you know who I am?" he wondered.

"I don't have time to explain. And yes there are more Frames, but they won't be around for a while." Tomoko relaxed her arms as she stepped closer. "You said that you dreamed about me, right?"

"Y...Yeah..." Haruki hesitantly retorted.

"I see. Hm..." She shifted herself even closer as they were inches apart. Haruki's back was against a tree as he felt himself trembling. "I got to go, but we'll meet again soon." Tomoko then put her right leg between his, grasped his face with her hands, and softly kissed his lips. He blushed as he could see her shut eyes, but his were widely opened in awe. The peck lasted several seconds as she let go, and mysteriously evaporated.

'She kissed me?!' Haruki gasped. When he twitched his right hand he felt something in it. Inside of his firmly gripped palm was a cell phone, but it was red with pink on the outside. A note was taped to it as he read it.

"You can call me with this, but don't let anyone know about me or this device." -Tomoko

Haruki sighed as he placed the item into his other pocket, and remembered about the tomatoes. With the orange tint of sunlight he guessed that it was almost the evening, or close to being too late to shop for more vegetables. He had no idea where the other ones went when he fell, so he decided to head right home.

About an hour later he arrived into his bedroom as he collapsed onto the bed face forward. His bedroom was simple with purple walls, a wooden floor, and green curtains over a window. His bed was a shade of crimson as a wooden dresser and bedroom doors were in front of it. Haruki couldn't believe what had just happened. He then heard the door open a few minutes later.

"Master Haruki, Master Mao would like you to go to his room," the butler muttered. It was a teenager like himself with black hair and silver eyes. He was wearing a dismal suit.

"Ugh. I'll be there shortly." Haruki sat up as he took out his cell phone, which had received more texts from Mao, while he was walking home. He then took out the pink device, went to his closet, and took out a blue shoebox. He threw the item into it, put it onto the floor, and tossed a shirt over it. The boy shortly departed from the room as he headed a few doors down, and turned the golden knob.

Once he had the door cracked open Mao's voice hollered loudly from his room. "Haruki!" The bedroom looked the same as Haruki's, but the bed and the walls were a midnight blue color instead. The male was shirtless as he had on his usual black boxer shorts. The lights were dimmed as the visitor gawked. "Where have you been? You ignored my texts!"

"I uh..." Haruki stammered as he wasn't sure what to tell the partner. He had just spent the last few hours running into Frames and Tomoko while trying to buy tomatoes for his father.

"Oh well. Since you looked so deeply entranced by me this morning I decided to push our night a few days ahead of schedule. So hurry and get undressed!" Mao ordered with a wide smirk on his face and his hands on his hips. Haruki immediately cringed as he tried to back out of the door. However Mao noticed and grasped him by the shirt, and held him close. "Heh. Or are you so teased that you'd rather have me do it?"

"No! Mao!" Haruki blushed as he flailed his arms, but he was already feeling Mao's hands slip across his body in a passionate manner.

Tomoko stepped into a room as another girl was sitting in front of a laptop on a glass and transparent table. "I'm back," she sighed. The fifty foot long and wide room was a shade of salmon pink with white curtains, a scarlet covered couch in the left corner, and the table on the opposite end with plates across it.

The table was beside a wall that led into the pale kitchen or a miniature room with the usual kitchenette items like a stove, dishwasher, and so on. Each plate contained a different dessert like cake or even brownies. The entire place had a hint of sweet perfume to it that was similar to breathing in a scent of fresh roses.

"How did it go Tomoko?" the female inquired. She was the same height and age. Her long and flaky blond hair and brown colored eyes contrasted her black robes, or showing that she had just taken a shower. Her feet were brushing along the light pink carpet as she hoped that no static would interfere.

"Eh. He seemed different this time," she replied. The girl removed her jacket as she had on the red shirt, but on the top of it was a white collar with the scarlet bow. "He apparently dreamed about me and he wouldn't shut up once he saw me."

"Did any Frames see you?" she questioned while grabbing the jacket and holding it for her.

"No. There were some that appeared, but I shot them before they got him," Tomoko explained. The cat around her feet opened its mouth.

"He was nervous to see you," it interrupted. "Maybe the dreams made your appearance more surprising." Its voice was a bit male toned, but it sounded high pitched and adorable.

"I guess. Ayume, Xinu, I'm going to rest now." She let out a yawn and headed toward the door for a separate room.

"So how did you think it went Xinu?" Ayume told the cat as Tomoko departed from the area. The animal licked its right paw as it sat straight up.

"It went well. He didn't know what was going on like planned," it beamed. "However Tomoko seems irritated having to go through this again."

"Of course. Hm. I wonder how soon Tomoko wants to visit him," Ayume muttered. "The candidate that I visited was highly interested in joining us like usual." She frowned as the cat jumped onto her left shoulder.

"It's tiresome isn't it?" Xinu sneered while watching the girl gently nod her head.

"I'm more worried about Tomoko..." Ayume said with concern in her voice.

Haruki was lying beneath Mao's bed covers as he had his right arm across his forehead with his eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. Mao was sleeping beside him as he gave off soft snores.

'Tomoko huh?' he thought. He couldn't stop thinking about the cell phone that she handed him, and the conversation that they had in the woods with the kiss and the Frames. With Mao's arm across his chest it was difficult to move, so he couldn't do anything but picture it all. When several minutes passed he finally felt himself being enveloped by drowsiness, and he shut his eyes while sensing himself falling to sleep.

End of Chapter Two