A.N.: I'd like to thank Tsukuyomi-chan for informing me of the correct ages for both Kourin and Aichi. However being as far into the story as I am, I just decided to keep the ages as they are as not to confuse anyone by randomly changing them in the middle of everything. Sorry of this bothers anyone but let's all just "picture it." I apologize for the bad Vanguard joke. -_-'

"Reduce all to ashes, flames of the apocalypse!"

Chapter 4

Misaki sat on the bed near her night stand looking at her cell phone. She kept reaching for it and pulling back her hand like it was going to bite her. What we she so scared off? She wanted to call him. She wanted to ask him to go on another outing but something prevented her. Maybe it was what he would say if she did. What if he said no? She wasn't sure if he liked her the same way. After the hug from the movies he didn't really say anything or mention it to her like she thought his curious nature would. Then again he never said anything negative about it. The purple haired teen reached for the phone once more before pulling her hand away and falling back on her bed. "Misaki, you're a member of a national winning Vanguard team. You've undergone pressure much worse than this. Why is this getting to you?!" she thought as the sun from her window shined down on her. She had to think of a way to go about this. She had to make it sound like an idea that ran though her head as to make her not seem desperate for a date with said boy. Now the only problem was figuring out how to do just that.

Kourin sat in the back of Card Shop PSY cell phone in hand. Her sisters had gone out once more so she had time to be alone and think. It had been a few days since her lunch with Sendou Aichi and ever since then she had been dying to try to get together with him once again. For some reason however, she felt so small when thinking about the whole thing. She had an infinite amount of fan boys following her every move. She had been asked out on dates before more times than she could count. So why was this boy scaring her so much? She simply sighed as she lay back on the couch. "I need to call him before Suiko and Rekka come in, but what do I say? I can't sound stupid to him. UGH! Why does something this stupid have to be so complicated?!" She covered her face with her palms as she deeply inhaled. Why was this so hard? She had to think of something, and fast.

"I got it!" said Misaki sitting up in her bed. She would call up Aichi and ask him to hang out after her shift at Card Capital on Saturday. With no classes and her shift being over at 3 that day, they would have plenty of time to hang out afterwards. It seemed perfect and she thought it would work out easiest for both of them. They would both be there for the card tournament which was usually held on that day allowing her to ask him what he would want to do afterwards. She was sure Shin would allow it if she offered to set up for him the night before. She placed a hand over her chest and took a deep breath. She had to keep cool when she called. She didn't want to look like she was truly desperate when she asked him to hang out and Misaki also didn't want to scare him away by making him think that it was a date, even though she wouldn't mind taking him on just that. She finally picked her cell up off her nightstand. "Alright, here goes nothing." She thought as she began to dial Aichi's number.

"Wait! I know what I can do." Kourin said aloud to herself as she sat back up. Card Shop PSY was closed on the weekends so she would ask Aichi to hang out with her on Saturday. Unless Ultra Rare had an event that day it would be perfect. She walked over to the calendar on the wall and looked down it towards the end of the week. She didn't see anything planned for the group and that was a good sign for her. "Good. I don't see anything for that day. This might just work out after all." All she had to do was call up Aichi and ask him if he wanted to get together with her and keep calm while doing it. She took a deep breath before breaking out her cellphone once again. "Alright Kourin. You can do this." The blonde idol told herself as she began to dial Aichi's number.

Aichi was just sitting as his desk looking over his deck and making adjustments. He had returned from Card Capital a half hour ago and after some close matches during the day he had to make sure his deck was in its best condition for the next day of play. He had all of the cards spread out along his desk as he looked over each one of his comrades carefully. As he glanced over everything however he heard his mother call from downstairs. "Aichi, there is a phone call for you." At this the boy got up from his chair and ran downstairs as to not make his mother or the caller wait much longer.

"Who is it?" he said taking the phone from his mother's grasp once he reached downstairs.

"It's Misaki." Mrs. Sendou answered as she went back to the kitchen. Aichi smiled at this. Even though his mind had been wrapped around the fact that there were two girls who seemed to have a thing for him, he was happy he would get to talk to a friend. Even if it was one he kind of had a thing for.

"Good afternoon Misaki-san." He replied once her held the phone to his ear.

"Hello Aichi. I just called to chat for a minute. You're not busy are you?"

"N-no. Not as of right now." Even though he had been right in the middle of working on his deck he didn't mind talking to her. She could have just dropped by uninvited and it wouldn't have bugged him. "So uh…what did you want to talk about?" he asked unsure of the actual reason she had called. He had never been one for phone conversations, especially with a girl like Misaki talking to him.

"Well I know we have the tournament at Card Capital on Saturday, but afterwards I get off early. By um…by any chance would you…well, would you like to hang out afterwards?" Aichi's heart leapt. He would get to compete in the tournament and hang out with Misaki afterwards. This was nothing more than a win-win situation for the boy. After calming himself down enough to the point where he could talk he spoke.

"That's sounds like a gre…" before he could complete his sentence however a beep could be heard on the phone. "Oh, I'm sorry Misaki-san. I have a call on the other line. I'll talk to you in a minute." He wanted to talk to her some more but he couldn't be rude and just ignore who was on the other line.

"Alright." Replied Misaki as Aichi hit the button to switch lines.

"Hello? This is the Sendou residence." Replied the blue haired boy.

"Hello Sendou Aichi. I was hoping to speak with you." Aichi froze as Kourin's voice hit his ears. Kourin was calling him now?! What could she want with him?

"Ah, h-hello Kourin-san. Can I help you?" He had no idea why she would call him now. Though he was pretty happy she had.

"I was actually wondering if you had anything planned for this weekend, say Saturday?" As far as he knew Aichi didn't have anything planned as of yet except the tournament.

"N-no, not that I know of."

"Then I would like to ask you if perhaps you would like to get together and spend some time with me. Would that be ok?" Aichi was ecstatic about this. He would love to go out with Kourin and hang. He took the phone away from his ear for a second to take it in. He had been thinking about her the past couple days so he was pretty happy she had invited him like this. He went to talk some more until he realized a flashing red light on his phone.

"AH! Misaki-san is still on the other line." He thought as he almost dropped the phone in surprise. "Um…Kourin-san, excuse me for one second. I have a call on the other line." Without waiting for another word he hit the button once more as the line switched. "Misaki-san, I'm sorry it took so long."

"It's ok, I understand. So how did Saturday sound?" Wait…she said Saturday. Kourin had also said Saturday! Who did he go with? He liked both. He wanted to make both happy! How could he make both happy if both wanted to go with him on the same day?!

"Uh…Saturday? Hm…I uh…I'm not sure about Saturday. I may need to help my mother on Saturday after the tournament." At the moment he realized he was making Kourin wait. Why did he not just say that he would call her back?

"Oh. Well I suppose at the tournament you could let me know." Aichi's heart sank a bit seeing as how she sounded a bit disappointed.

"I'm r-really sorry Misaki-san but I'll let you know. Bye!" with that he hung up and switched over to Kourin once again.

"Why did you switch so quick on me Aichi?" she asked confused. Aichi felt another ping of guilt as he realized he had been so rude.

"I'm…I'm really sorry Kourin-san. It had been an emergency."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize this. Is everything ok? Did you want to talk about it?" he did want to talk to her. He did want to say something but his brain was racing from all that was going on and he needed some time to think.

"Yes! Yes everything is fine! I apologize but I need to go take care of something. I'll talk to you later Kourin-san. Bye!" with that Aichi hung up and dropped the phone on the rug as if it had come to life. What was going on?! Both girls wanted to hang out with him on the same day and he liked both of them to a similar point. He had to figure out what to do. He had to talk with someone. With that Aichi put on his jacket and shoes.

"Aichi? Where are you going? Dinner is almost ready." Said Emi as she walked from the living room to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Emi, but there is somewhere I need to go. I'll be back as soon as I can." At this Emi puffed her cheeks making a pouty face.

"You can't miss dinner Aichi. You need to eat something."

"I'll eat later Emi. There is something I NEED to do!" before his sister could reply he ran out the door almost slamming it behind him as his sister just stared confused after him.

Back in her room Misaki felt a bit upset. She had tried to ask Aichi to hang but it sounded like he didn't want to. His pace of talking had picked up and he sounded oddly nervous about something. Was he trying to avoid her? She didn't think he would do that. They got together fairly well and she didn't believe that she had done anything to make him mad at her. She sat back down on her bed to think everything over. "What was making act like that? Was her nervous because he thought I was rushing into a date? Perhaps I was too direct and…no. I didn't say anything about this being a date and we've hung out like this before. Why did he seem so unsure of himself?" she sighed and hugged her white teddy bear close to her. She just wanted to ask him out. She had been wanting to for quite some time. She just didn't want to have her heart broken. Misaki feared that most of all. The purple haired girl didn't want to lose her friend or the feelings she had for him.

Kourin hung up her phone and lay back on the couch. Did she say something wrong? Did she intimidate Aichi upon asking him to get together on Saturday? Maybe she should have used "hang out" that did sound a bit more subtle. Maybe that was why he sounded so nervous. "I really need to stop being so direct with that boy." She thought as she lay there. "He is young so maybe the thought of an older female asking him out scared him. Plus I am a member of Ultra Rare. Is hanging out with a star really that scary?" Just then the front of the store rang as Kourin walked out to meet up with her two sisters.

"Hey Kourin. We're home!" smiled Rekka as they walked in. The blonde smiled at them both.

"So how was your outing?"

"It went fairly well. We wished you could have joined us." Said Suiko.

"Why do you never come? Are you spending alone time with that blue haired boy?" Kourin blushed a deep shade of red.

"You know it's nothing like that! I admire Sendou Aichi, I'm not hot for him!" she said defensively as Suiko just smiled.

"Sendou Aichi is quite a fascinating boy. I'm not surprised you've taken a liking to him. Have you met his parents yet?" at this Kourin just sighed. It was obvious they weren't listening.

Aichi walked along the now lit streets alone. He knew if he wanted to figure out what to do in this situation he would need to seek some advice. It being around 7 in the evening Aichi knew the one he sought wouldn't be in his usual spot. "I think I know somewhere else he might be." A few minutes later he arrived at the AL4 headquarters. Seeing the lights on in the lobby was a good sign. He knew someone would still be there. He ran up to the doors and walked into the main lobby. Almost instantly upon entering he spotted a familiar face. "T-Tetsu-san!" The large man spun around being almost at the elevator.

"Hm? Sendou Aichi? What are you doing here at such an hour?" Aichi quickly ran up to him. Standing next to the man Aichi suddenly realized how tall Tetsu was. He looked up into the man's eyes with a determined face.

"Tetsu-san please. I'm not sure if he's here but I need to speak with Kai-kun!"