Disclaimer: GALS! © Mihona Fujii

Another peaceful morning at Otohata's residence.

It should have been a new, refreshing morning since the only son in the house, Rei, finally got a chance to spend one day long with his beautiful "mole" after not seeing each other for a week.

Sadly, it seemed like the number one Meishou champion had unintentionally let his guard down that he failed to anticipate an unexpected happening. How he regretted the fact that he admitted his plan to take Aya out from the morning.

He was with her, yes—but here, in his house, in the morning. Already.

"Now, now, Rei! What's the face? Mother just wants you two to fill up your energies with her special breakfast before you start the day together!" Mrs. Otohata spoke in such an oblivious manner. "Here, Mother has also baked these fresh sugar-free cookies for both of you!"

The said guy merely kept his mouth shut and turned his face to the dark-haired girl sitting in front of him instead. He sighed and gave her a gesture to take the meal first, which she immediately refused as she shook her head. Seeing that, Mrs. Otohata bent down to face the girl, "Don't be shy, Aya-chan. It'd be very rude to waste such a special dish I have prepared in this early morning, right?

"And in this early morning you have selfishly made Aya come here while we've already had another plan, Mother," Rei grumbled, popping up a vein. "So would you please leave us now and let us have this special breakfast of yours?"

"Aw, talk about being rude. Quit being sarcastic to your mother, Rei," Mrs. Otohata stuck her tongue out at her icy son and patted Aya on the shoulder before taking a leave. "I was just kidding, by the way. Well, enjoy your meal!"

Rei heaved a long sigh in relief as his persistent mother left the dining room. Then he faced his girlfriend again. "Sorry, Aya. My mother became exaggeratedly fired up when I informed her that I was going out with you from the morning until the evening. She insisted that it should be your turn to have your breakfast here since I once had breakfast at your home."

"I-It's all right, really." Aya uttered with a chuckle interspacing her words, "Well, even though it was quite surprising when Otohata-kun's mother phoned me earlier."

"Yeah, she forcefully took my cell phone to call you up." Rei shrugged and began taking a spoon of cream soup. Aya did the same afterwards and gasped in awe after taking a sip. "This tastes very…good."

"It's just the usual creamy mushroom soup my mother always cooks every week, actually…"

"No, I'm telling the truth." Aya beamed, giggling in excitement. "I should ask Otohata-kun's mother about the recipe later."

Rei blinked. "Just so you know, this soup doesn't seem to be one of those dietetic foods."

"M-Mou, Otohata-kun…" Aya sharpened her sight to her boyfriend while blushing furiously.

Unknown to the young couple, another (older) couple watched them from the back of the door. Mr. Otohata sweat dropped and murmured to his wife, "I'm famished. Why won't you let me in? I want my breakfast as well."

"And missing this unusual scene of our only son? Be patient, okay?" Mrs. Otohata whispered back with a sly smile on her face. "See how bright Rei is now."

Mr. Otohata fixed up his glasses and took a better look at Rei who was currently wiping Aya's nose with a napkin. "I can't argue with that but…look, I'm still starving, okay?" He said as his stomach started growling in a loud voice, getting Aya and Rei to notice the presence of the elder couple at the back of the door.

Mrs. Otohata narrowed her eyes at her husband fretfully. Mr. Otohata could only smile awkwardly as his son and his future daughter-in-law began staring at him as well with such an astonished expression.

"Um…good morning, you two."

At least for now, the haughty Rei Otohata had to thank God from the bottom part of his heart for the glorious weather that day. After finishing up their breakfast, Rei and Aya left to fulfill their date which had been ruined slightly by Rei's mother—much to his irritation. But seeing Aya joyfully ate up the breakfast, looking grateful for every single bite of it that she bluntly asked for the recipe to Mrs. Otohata, Rei could not help but feel a bit relieved.

As the two of them kept on pacing, Aya initiated a conversation, "Where are we going today, Otohata-kun?"

"Want to go to the bookshop as usual?" Rei asked back.

Aya instantly shook her head. "Just for today, I want to keep my mind off the books."

Rei gazed at her bewilderedly. "Are you sure?"

"I had passed that gloomy one week long with heaps of books devotedly." Aya sighed in frustration. "Perhaps Otohata-kun wants to visit the center record store of Shibuya?"

It was Rei's turn to sigh wearily. "That's where I spent most of my latest one week."

"Otohata-kun gets tired of records?" Aya asked disbelievingly with an innocent face.

Rei smirked. "It's the synonym of 'Aya gets tired of books', isn't it?"

Aya blushed at what the Ice Prince said and quickly changed the subject, "What about…mm, just walking around Shibuya? I-I don't really have any place that I want to go to right now except tonight but…"

"Tonight? Where?"

"U-Um, it's a secret! It's a place for dinner. I'll tell Otohata-kun later," Aya replied nervously. "So if Otohata-kun has an idea where to go now, I'll be okay with it."

"I initially wanted to go to the bookstore but…" Rei scratched the back of his head and added, "…since you said that you wanted to avoid books today then I guess walking around Shibuya is fine."

"I-Is that so? I'm so sorry! Is there any book that Otohata-kun has to buy right away?"

"Not really."

"I-I'm sorry if today's date ends up boring."

"There you go again."

Hearing that, Aya shook her head and mustered up her confidence to say, "B-But for me, even just standing quietly with Otohata-kun by my side is more than enough to make me happy."

Instead of getting carried away, Rei sweat dropped at what she said. "So simplistic."

"Uh? What?" Aya blinked twice.

"It's nothing."

The dark-haired girl merely cracked a wide smile. "By the way, how is Otohata-kun's work at the night club going along lately?"

"My work? Nothing special, as always."

"Mm, but isn't work in the midnight messing up Otohata-kun's regular sleep pattern?"

"Now that you mention it…" Rei pondered for a few seconds. "I'm not working at the club as often as I am at the record store. So I have no problem with that."

"I see…" Aya lowered her face and tried to find things to talk about as many as possible, seeing that their current plan was nothing but walking around. I-It'd be very awkward if we kept silent…

"Aya."

"Y-Yes?"

"I just got an idea. Instead of Shibuya, why don't we visit Ikebukuro?"

Aya beamed on the instant. "Sure! We'd hung out to Shibuya too often anyway."

"But we have to go by train, though…"

"No problem, totally not a problem." Aya asserted with an exuberant smile, thinking mirthfully, Otohata-kun and me…traveling by train, just the two of us…even though it's just Ikebukuro…

Seeing Aya remained giggling and having such a jovial expression, Rei raised a brow and asked, "Are you looking forward to visiting Ikebukuro that much?"

"Uh? Well, yes, kind of…" Aya giggled again. "It's just that…it'll be the first time we go by train together—I-I mean, just the two of us…isn't it?"

Rei did not give an immediate answer, making Aya wondered. "Uh? Don't tell me that…it's not?"

"It feels like I had seen Aya in a railway coach alone once."

"F-For real? When?"

"Hm…"

"Are you sure, Otohata-kun?"

"I don't know."

"O-Otohata-kun…"

Rei just had no idea how glad Aya was that they could finally chat and act so naturally toward each other just now. Probably that was because Rei had always simply felt that even their usual awkwardly silent atmosphere was something natural between the two of them. As long as there was still a smile on Aya's face—even in silence—it would always be a normal moment for Rei.

And he liked it.

As soon as they arrived at the train station, Aya was startled by Rei's warm, big hand which suddenly grabbed her puny one so tight. She could not help but turn her sight to his direction, only to get him to notice her gaze at him in a shake.

"What's wrong?" asked Rei.

"I-It's nothing."

They went to purchase the tickets while Rei was muttering, "The train station is getting more crowded since it's holiday, so be careful."

"U-Um." Aya nodded. Oh, then he's holding my hand so we won't be separated in the crowds, she thought in a slight disappointment.

After ten minutes of waiting, the train heading to Ikebukuro arrived. Apparently, the train was not as full as the two of them expected it would be that they could still find empty seats here and there. Even so, Rei was not letting go of Aya's hand, much to Aya's astonishment. Aya turned away her face from Rei and shifted her gaze around the room of the railway wagon, finding some women cast a glance in rapture towards the calm but super good-looking Rei. She was used to it but the fact that some of them—who seemed to be Rei's fan girls from Ikebukuro—shot her an irked glare while whispering to each other could not help freaking her out.

W-What's with this lethal aura? Even gals in Shibuya never looked at me that way. Aya thought apprehensively. Cold sweat began running down her skin, including her wrapped palm. Rei, feeling the sudden cold sensation on Aya whose hand was being held by him, asked questioningly, "The AC is turned on and you're sweating. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

Aya nodded and slowly freed her palm from Rei's grip. "Mm, I think I'm just a little tired of standing."

Rei turned out to feel somewhat guilty at this. "Oh, sorry, just sit down. I like standing near the entrance door better like this."

"I-It's okay." Aya stammered and took the closest seat to where Rei was standing. She hesitantly took a glimpse of the fan girls who glowered evilly at her earlier to make sure that her decision not to get too close to Rei followed their expectation. Thank God, it did. Those fan girls did not even look at her anymore. She could finally breathe.

"I went to Ikebukuro several times to get schoolbooks. But it was a long time ago, though. What about Otohata-kun?"

The couple just left the east exit of the Ikebukuro Station and reached the downtown, much to Aya's dismay. She prayed inwardly that they would not meet such scary fan girls anymore.

"Once," Rei replied. "I had a photo shoot at the Sunshine City with Yuuya once."

"Oh, speaking of Second Place-kun...it's very possible that we will meet him here with Mami-rin, right?" Aya chuckled. "Sunshine City? I'd never been there before."

Rei automatically offered, "Want to go there?"

"Yes!" Aya gave a cheerful response. Not long afterwards, they were staggered by an appearance of a long, long black limousine in their way all of a sudden. Of course, it was unquestionably easy to guess who the owner was.

The Ice Prince sweat dropped. "Talk about a predictable event…"

As the limousine halted, the said couple hopped out. Noticing the presence of the two of his friend, Yuuya greeted them with a questioning tone, "Rei? Aya-chan?"

"Yo." Rei greeted.

"Are? It's so unusual to see the two of you hanging out here," said Mami in a puzzled look. "If you're going to the Sunshine City, you'd better go look for some other alternatives. It's tremendously crowded there that even Yuuya and I had to cancel our plan to go there."

Frankly, Mami's information was a shock for Aya. "R-Really? Is it that bad?"

"How did you know that we're heading to the Sunshine City?" Rei questioned.

"That's simple. It has become the first stop at Ikebukuro to visit during the holiday. Gee, just in time when I have this urge to take photos with Yuuya at the Sunshine Aquarium." Mami huffed. "By the way, if you're craving for high-grade yet cheap foods, I recommend the ramen."

"R-Ramen? N-no, anything but that!" Aya instantly defied, making the other three flustered.

Yuuya asked, "You dislike ramen, Aya-chan?"

"No, it's not like that," Aya shook her head and asked again with a gauche smile, "A-At any rate, Mami-rin, what about Marui Department Store?"

Mami put her fingertip on her chin and thought for a while. "Hm, I think it's not as crowded as the Sunshine City now…"

"Aya wants to go there?" Rei asked his girlfriend.

"Mm, if it's fine for Otohata-kun as well…"

"Well then, we're going there." Rei stated. He turned around and waved his hand at Yuuya and Mami. "See ya, you two."

"Thank you very much, Mami-rin, Second Place-kun." Aya bowed before taking a leave.

Aya cantered to Rei who was walking ahead. "Let's have lunch there as well."

"Before that…" Rei talked out of the blue. "…what's with the ramen?"

To Rei's perplexity, the question stroke Aya. "Eh? It's nothing! Nothing, absolutely nothing."

It is obviously something, Rei thought skeptically.

Again, Aya purposively changed the subject, "I want to buy some accessories for Ran. She's really excited about her upcoming birthday."

Rei sweat dropped, imagining how the so-called world's greatest gal drooled unstoppably for free birthday presents. "Sure she is."

"Otohata-kun has something to buy for Ran's birthday present too?"

"No, I'm not good at buying presents."

Aya was silenced at the moment. Of course that was exactly not the answer Aya hopefully expected to come from Rei's mouth. Because he's not good…then if he was…uh, what am I thinking? Snap out of it.

"Mm, it's her seventeenth birthday, so she's trying so hard to save her money to throw a birthday party." Aya resumed, "I mean, we just can't let Ran down for her struggling on something that she can barely do every day, can we?"

Rei turned to face Aya with a total wonder. "You sound like a mother feeling guilty towards her daughter."

"Uh…" Aya flushed.

"Aya will choose the present but I'll also do the half-pay," Rei suggested. "So it's one present from Aya and me."

Aya's heart skipped a beat for what Rei said. Even if it has no significant meaning, Aya could not help feeling swept out of the "Aya and me" Rei uttered earlier. She had always thought that giving a present on behalf of two names was usually done by married couples—despite the truth that Rei offered a joint venture since he was simply lazy to buy presents by himself.

"This is the place, right?" Rei stopped pacing as the two just arrived at Marui Department Store. Aya answered with a nod.

As Rei was about to take a step forward, Aya called, "Otohata-kun."

"Hm?"

"I like Otohata-kun…" Aya declared bluntly, shades of red on her cheeks were brightly visible. "…so much."

Unfortunately, the usual Ice Prince did not even change his expressionless face. "That's random. Let's go." He said nonchalantly, taking Aya by the hand. They walked inside the department store.

"Otohata-kun, you're sweating."

"I'm not."

"Mm. This hand that is holding mine, it's sweating."

"It's not."

Aya bubbled with laughter. "Yes, it is."

The two took a train again to go back after spending a long afternoon in Ikebukuro. It was seven in the evening and Rei began feeling sleepy, despite standing casually near the entrance door as always. Aya, noticing his condition, worriedly asked, "Otohata-kun, want to take a brief sleep?" She tapped the empty seat beside her.

"No, thanks." Rei gave a simple reply. "Where is this recommended dinner place of yours located, Aya?"

"Oh, it's near my house. I'm sure Otohata-kun will love it."

Rei blinked. "Since even you look so confident about that, I guess I will."

"W-What's that 'even you' supposed to mean?" Aya puffed up her cheeks.

"Is it ramen?" Rei asked again. Like a mind-reading wizard, he already knew that Aya would respond with an astounded face.

"H-How did Otohata-kun…" Aya stuttered, "…d-don't tell me that Otohata-kun's already eaten there before?"

Rei suppressed a chuckle. "Aya's factious rejection against ramen this afternoon explained everything."

The dark-haired girl felt her face heating up. "Mou…I intended it to be a surprise. B-But it's the best ramen, really. Otohata-kun won't be disappointed."

"Yes, yes." Rei let his chuckle slip out this time.

Aya chuckled too, still blushing in embarrassment. Then her eyes softened as she caught a glimpse of a small box inside her handbag. I can't wait to give Ran this present…

Just then, Aya got her heart skipping a beat as Rei suddenly sat down beside her and rested his head on her left shoulder. "Wake me up when we arrive." He demanded under his breath.

As the dark brown-haired guy shut his eyelids with folded arms, Aya curved a bashful smile on her face and slowly took one of his arms for her to hold. She felt indescribably safe just by having him this close to her even when he was asleep.

"Otohata-kun."

"Hmm?"

"I'm so happy today."

"Mm…sure." Rei said drowsily and fixed his position, pulling Aya into his hug tightly. Aya lost her breath for a few seconds.

What am I, a teddy bear? Aya giggled in joy, in spite of her jumping blissful heartbeats. However, she stopped giggling on the line right when she noticed the familiar deadly glares of Otohata-kun's fan girls to her direction. Apparently, those fan girls had been in the same train as the two of them again from the start. How could she notice them just now? Her heart tugged rapidly in a negative way this time.

Oh, Otohata-kun, please wake up.

A/N: Okay, sorry again for the very late update. And I'm so sorry to say that I'm seriously starting to experience a writer's block. Believe me, I watched the anime series again to boost my mood and get some fresh inspirations just to complete this chapter. But GALS! fandom sure is real slacking, huh? That explains the domination of anonymous reviewers for this story, hehe. But that's TOTALLY okay as long as you're not being a silent reader!^^ FYI, silent readers accelerate the hit of writer's block. Literally.

Special thanks to poopy, xxx, dini, Alice Jane, spacegirl2818, nn-anom, WoofQuack'ed MeowRoar, ilovepurple, Gouto Michiko, Kimchi, dyalicious, kimxronx4eva for reviewing the previous chapter^^If it was not because of the supports you gave me in your reviews, there would be no update for sure:" So thank youuu so much!

By the way, I just noticed that the new review box below makes it easier to post feedbacks. FFN rocks! So yeah, thanks for your attention and please review to at least help me get rid of this stupid writer's block. Okay, that's so oppressive of me, sorry. And oh, I'm sorry for all my mistakes and human errors by the way. Hehe. The next chapter would probably be the last one with an epilogue coming afterwards. Ja!

Chiby Angel-chan