It was recess and all the students were outside. Rika was just walking along the school's corridor looking for Dash and Pip when Aisha came running and shouting, "Rika! Rika! You wouldn't believe what I'm about to tell you!" She panted as she stopped infront of the purple-haired girl.
"What is it, Aisha?" Rika asked, watching as Aisha caught her breath back, "I'm looking for Dash... He was gonna borrow me something... Have you seen him?"
"Not after Nash cancelled their battle..." Aisha replied, "But who cares about that guy? Listen to this... You do know who Jason is, right? He's Dash's friend, the one with the Vigoroth. It appears that Jason has a secret admirer!"
"An admirer?" Rika asked, "Who?"
"It was suppose to be a secret but I'll tell you anyway, girlfriend!" Aisha took a deep breath before saying, "Its Tomo Kyle! The girl from class Red!"
"Who?"
"Oh yeah," Aisha sweat-dropped, scratching her head, "You don't know a lot of people here yet because you've just moved in... I can take you to her but... I don't think you'll like her very much..."
"Nonsense," Rika giggled, "C'mon! Show me."
"Okay..." Aisha said, rolling her eyes, "You wanted it..."
---
Rika and Aisha had just reached the door of class Red. Aisha slowly pushed the door open and revealed a dark room. No wonder because the lights in the room were all turned off. Just when Rika was about to turn on the lights, a female voice muttered from behind her. "What are you doing here and what do you want?" the female voice asked, scaring the living daylights out of both Rika and Aisha, "If you have no business here then leave."
Nevertheless, Rika turned on the lights and saw a girl with reddish brown hair. She had red eyes, kind of like Rena Kyotsuke's, and an emotionless expression. She was about the same size as Aisha. A Spearow was clinging on her right shoulder. "M-Might you be Tomo?" Rika asked, "Its a p-pleasure to meet you... M-My name's R-Rika..."
"Ah, the new girl who just moved into the school. " Tomo said, walking into her classroom, "What do you want, newcomer? If you're here to see my bird feather collection, come back after school."
"We're not here to see feathers!" Aisha exclaimed, "We're here because we know that you have a crush on Jason! This 'newcomer' here wants to help you!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tomo said as she sat down on a chair, "I don't need those useless things you call 'love'. All I need is Claw, my Spearow, and nothing more."
"Did you hear wrong, Aisha?" Rika asked the black-haired girl, "You must've made a mistake..."
"Ah know that the information I got was correct!" Aisha exclaimed, "Maybe she's not admitting it!"
"Yo!" a boy's voice greeted from behind them, "What are you girls doing here?" The three girls turned around to see the red-haired boy, Jason. He wasn't wearing his baseball outfit like always and he was wearing the school uniform. Rika noticed the gaze look on Tomo's eyes when she looked at the boy. "Thought a friend of mine was here so I came here! Looks like he's not around... Okay then, see ya!"
"W-Wait!" Tomo cried out, "I um... I..."
"Whatever it is tell me later, okay?" Jason said, "I need to go back to the baseball field for another game! See ya around, Tomo!" And with that, Jason left.
'He said my name...' Tomo thought, 'He actually said my name?' Tomo then noticed the two girls eyeing her. "W-What? I thought I told you two to leave!"
"Ho ho ho!" Aisha laughed wickedly, "So its true that you have a crush on Jason! Admit it! The way you looked at him just now proves all of it!"
"I..." Tomo's face began turning red, realizing that her secret was out, "Okay... I admit it... I DO like him..."
"Why don't you go and tell him?" Rika asked, "He needs to know how you feel about him..."
"Are you crazy?" Tomo scolded, leaving her seat as she walked towards the window. She saw Jason playing baseball from there. "I've always admired his high spirit... He's active and athletic... Not like me... I bet he'd prefer someone whose a lot more active and lively. All I ever do is stay in class and read Pokemon articles..."
'Its the same about how I feel about Dash...' Rika thought, 'Except for the 'staying in class' thing...' "I bet he'll like you back, Tomo!" Rika suddenly said, "I mean... You ARE beautiful, right?"
"I can't make him like me just because of my looks..." Tomo muttered, feeding a cracker to her Spearow, "I'm not planning to tell him how I feel about him just yet... All I want is... for him and me... to be... f-f-frien..."
"Friends?" Aisha asked, "I bet you don't have a lot of them, huh? You can't even say it right!" Aisha the noticed the angry look on Rika's eyes. "Oops... Sorry."
"Forget about it," Tomo said, "Just forget the whole thing and mind your own business next time! Don't you ever tell anyone else about this or I'll be sure to make your life a living nightmare..."
"R-Right..." Rika and Aisha said in unison, "We'll be leaving now!"
Aisha quickly closed the door behind them as they walked out from the room. "She's more like a ghost than a beauty..." Aisha said, "Oh well! Me and my Pom Pom( Her Aipom) need to go back to class now! Ta-ta!" And with that, Aisha ran for her life.
Rika was quiet until a familiar voice called out to her. "Rika!" Dash called out, "I've been looking all over for you! Here's the movie 'My Love For You' you asked!" Dash was about to hand it over to her when he noticed the worried look on her face. "Anything wrong? I did bring the correct CD, right?"
"Dash..." Rika muttered, "If a girl was to confess her love to you... Let's say that she never talked to you but have always watched you from afar... Would you accept it even if you don't know her that well? Even if you and her don't share the same interest?"
"W-What?" Dash asked, feeling strange that Rika having a question like that, "Well... I'd give her a chance to get to know her better and see if she really suits me... I don't care about what she likes because... that's what she likes and I am in no rights to change it... Was that the answer you were looking for?"
"I guess..." Rika muttered, "Let's go back to class, okay?"
"Okay... Let's--"
"Dash!" Rika cried all of a sudden, "I need to tell you something! Its about Jason..."
"Jason?"
(While walking back to class)
"She has a crush on Jason?" Dash asked, "So what's the problem?"
"She doesn't have the courage to even talk to him..." Rika replied, "I think she's afraid that Jason won't like her..."
"That's ridiculous!" Dash protested, "Jason's not the type of guy to turn down a girl just because he doesn't know her a lot! Well... he doesn't really have that much interest in girls anyway..."
"Ehh?" Rika squeeled, "Really?"
"Yup," Dash replied, "He's been avoiding girls since he was six... Me and him were friends for a long time, you know. Everytime he's about three inches from a girl, he'd try to run away by making excuses or something..."
"Furret!" Pip cried.
"Hm?" Dash asked, "What is it, Pip?" Pip was pointing at someone who was standing beside their class' door. "Isn't that Tomo over there?"
"Yeah..." Rika muttered, not knowing how or why, "Maybe she's angry at me or some--" Rika was startled as Tomo ran towards her and grabbing her right hand. "W-What?"
"Hello!" Tomo greeted happily, "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier and I'm here to apologize! I'm sorry!" Tomo noticed the strange look Dash and Rika were giving her. "What? Is there something on my face?"
"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Rika asked, "Did something good happen to you?"
"No, silly!" Tomo exclaimed, "I'm just happy because I'm happy!"
"Ah yes..." a voice said, "Tomo's sudden change of attitude."
"A-Aisha?" Dash and Rika shouted in unison, "How did you suddenly appear like that! What do you mean by 'Tomo's sudden change of attitude'?"
"Its like Rena except she changes into a whole different person," Aisha explained, "Unlike Rena, Tomo's memmories and her 'other' happy self are different. So you can say its like she completely turns into another person..."
"How'd you keep getting this stuff?" Dash muttered, sweat-dropping.
"So its possible that she doesn't like Jason at all?" Rika asked.
"Actually..." Aisha sweat-dropped, "She won't like any boys as this side of her's hates boys... Kinda funny if you think about it... She changes when she gets nervous or something and changes back the same way... I think..."
"So she'll hate Jason if she's in this form?" Rika squeeled, "This doesn't look good..."
"What are you people talking about, huh?" Tomo groaned, "C'mon! Let's go have fun outside! Recess' not over yet, you know! You, boy, get out of the way!" And with that, she pushed Dash aside and took both Rika and Aisha with her.
'I'm starting to feel that most of the students in this school are weirdos...' Dash thought.
"Furret..." Pip said in sympathy.
----
Rika and Aisha were sitting together on a wooden bench while Tomo was playing by the swing. Rika still couldn't believe of Tomo's sudden change of ego. "Don't worry, Rika!" Aisha assured, "Just becasue she hates boys doesn't mean she loves girls! You still have a chance with Dash!"
"W-What are you talking about!" Rika shuttered, flushing a bit, "Don't say things like that all of a sudden! I'm just worried of Tomo and Jason..."
"Why?"
"You see... Tomo likes Jason but Jason hates girls. If Jason did like Tomo, her 'other' self hates him! Don't you think that its a bit complicated? Their relationship won't go well..."
"You're always worried about so many things, you know that?" Aisha moaned, "If only you could be as carefree as me..."
"Hey!" Rika exclaimed, "How about we teach both Jason and the 'other' Tomo that the opposite genders are not that bad? That would be a great solution to the problem!"
"I guess it could work that way..." Aisha said, "But those two are really stubborn, you know..."
"Then we need some help from the others!" Rika explained, "With more help, its possible! What do you say, Aisha?"
"You are so cute!" Aisha squeeled, snuggling Rika like a teddy bear, "Count me in!"
"Let go of me first!"